Remaining
by keiiah
Summary: Ryoma x Sakuno Ten years later, Ryoma comes back. Ranked number one in the world, he meets Sakuno in an ancient hamburger joint. A 'date' in Seigaku brings plenty of surprises, but the fun never lasts.
1. Suddenly Lost and Found

Disclaimer: I don't own the Prince of Tennis. 

Yay! Enjoy the fic!

* * *

She sat alone in her room, tilting her head and looking slightly to the left, where the window was. She glanced at a white and purple picture frame. The frame had glitter stars all over it. She smiled as she recalled her childhood. Glitter, stars, hearts, pretty looking shapes, and anything nice, that was what she liked. Inside the picture frame that she once dearly loved, was a picture that she would be willing to sail across the Pacific Ocean just to take one look at it. In the picture, was a boy that she once admired and cared for, she still cared. But now, he was much more distant than ever.

She sighed as she thought of the moment the picture was taken. This picture was not meant to be taken. It happened as an accident. It was really Shiba the reporter who wanted to take a picture with the prince. Sakuno sat about two feet away from him, and in the split second when the picture was to be taken, she was coincidentally pushed towards the prince. Shiba went out of the picture, and it became the treasured moment of Sakuno and Ryoma-kun.

The picture was taken after the Tokyo District Tournament ended and Seigaku, once again ruled all the matches. However, this time, they did not win as easily as they did in the previous years. This time, there was a one worthy team that they fought against. Fudomine they were, their black jerseys were their trademark. Sakuno recalled the eye patch that Ryoma-kun was wearing in the picture. His eye was injured during the match against Ibu Shinji in Fudomine. The accident, as they all call it, Ryoma-kun lost grip of his racket and it flew towards the pole holding the net. The racket broke as it hit the pole. One part of it flew back to him and hit his eye.

She could clearly remember the shock she felt, the shock everyone felt when they saw the blood streaming down his cheeks. He was covering his eye carefully, his head shaking slightly as he endured the pain. She couldn't stop herself but run into the tennis court. She knew she shouldn't have been doing this, but she lost her self-control then.

Sakuno ran into the courts and told Ryoma-kun to stop the match. She wanted him to care for his injured eye first. She couldn't stand seeing the one she cared for the most bleeding on the courts, keeping the so-called sportsmanship. She never said that sportsmanship was a bad thing, and she never said that trying until the last minute was anything to be ashamed about. Maybe it was just herself. It was all right for everyone else to see a twelve year old boy bleeding like mad on a court, refusing to give up. But it was not all right for her.

Was it because she felt differently about him compared to the other people?

So the others didn't try and stop Ryoma-kun because she was the only one who felt protective over him?

Maybe she just didn't get the whole idea of sportsmanship, the idea of never giving up, regardless of anything happening to you.

That was the story behind the eye patch the prince was wearing. It was her side of the story.

She picked up the white and purple frame and took out the picture from the inside, staring at it for a longer moment, remembering more and more of the times spent with the prince.

So she had once taken a picture with a so-called prince who was now a tennis super star, admired by millions to billions of fans. His distinguishing good looks had drawn many girls to drool over him. His red coloured rackets that he had used since the very ten years ago when she first saw him play. His rather messy dark hair with shining turquoise highlights which gleamed with pride under the sun. His trademark smirk he used when he tortured his opponents, and in the end he always won. There was also his infamous phrase which he used on the inferior.

He was so distant, yet he was once in the same school as her, under the same roof almost every weekday. He had once taught her tennis every Sunday morning. He had more than once commented that her hair was long. He had waved goodbye, his own way, when he left to the land of milk and honey, the land of freedom, where he continued chasing after his dreams, in the meantime also fulfilling his father's.

She had waited for him as his dream became true. She watched him everyday as he had stride nearer to his goal. She watched him as he took over Wimbledon. She had cheered quietly, out of his sight as he smiled at the audience.

But of course she was out of sight. How could he ever notice her, she was watching his matches on television after all.

She was many thousands of miles away from the one she cared about. Ten years since she last saw him, he never came back to Japan.

Sakuno sighed as she looked away from the picture. Should she be forgetting him already? He was never going to come back, and he had lost contact with almost everyone now, with the exception of perhaps contacting Momo-senpai twice a year. There was almost no news from him except the ones you see on television or newspapers.

'Samurai Jr. conquered Wimbledon. What would be his next motive?' as the headlines of the newspaper from yesterday had said.

The Samurai, as his new name was, left no comment to this question. It was seemingly as he didn't want the reporters to follow his tracks onto his next intention.

He wasn't coming back, that was for sure. He probably found some nice foreign girl already. He lived in the foreign lands for ten years, right?

_Forget him_, Sakuno told herself. She had waited for so long that she was getting exhausted from watching his all his matches but not being able to see him in person.

She threw the picture into the waste basket.

"Goodbye, the prince of tennis," she said.

* * *

So it was ten years of tennis. Wimbledon had taken him ten years to take over. That wasn't bad, was it? Other players took longer that he did, if he remembered correctly. 

He was now in America, attending interviews with nosy people who asked weird questions about him. His manager was so eager to advertise his popularity. And soon, the people remembered him not for tennis, but for his physical features.

The cat eyed male with his distinctive qualities walked out of the front door of his hotel. He headed to the convenient store at the opposite pavement. He wanted to get ponta, that's all. Who knew that once he snatched the 'conqueror' title from some previous ruler, it would make him an instant super star?

There were reporters all over the place, and hungry fans tried to get a picture or two out of him. Others tried to force a hand shake from him. It was good that he had decent training in the past ten years. His coach not only trained his tennis, but also taught him essential skills of dodging thirsty people who wanted a lot from him. He started darting quickly through the crowds, occasionally hearing well thought out questions from the reporters.

"What do you decide to do after you became number one in the world?"

"Do you decide to start a relationship with your loved one?"

"Do you have a loved one?"

"Are you going to return to Japan?"

The reporters seemed to have researched very thoroughly on him, and have recognised the fact that he hadn't returned to Japan since he left after he won Tezuka buchou. And they also intended to be very interested in his personal life, if he had one. How was he supposed to own a personal life if he were showered with people who tried to bug him wherever he went? That was something that he would like to find out.

He ran across the street into the convenient store. Guards from the hotel had known that he was the number one in the tennis world, and decided to serve him with five-star service. They rushed over to the other side of the street, before the insane crowds got over. They guarded the entrance of the store before chaos happened. The shopkeeper, who had some common sense went and shut the door of the store, blocking the noise from the Samurai Junior's ears. Finally, there was some peace in the world.

Ryoma looked at the selection of many drinks, and chose his very favourite grape ponta. He took it from the shelf and went to the cashier. The woman at the cashier seemed very excited to see someone so famous standing before her. She took out a notebook and asked for an autograph. Ryoma signed it quickly and paid for his drink. He started wondering about the reporter's questions.

Where would he go next? He had taken the title of number one in the world, now what? He pondered onto the other questions, his loved one? He had never thought about that over these ten years. Never had a girl crossed his mind.

He made his way across the street into the hotel again. He dodged from the psychotic flood of humans who tried to get into his elevator as he pressed the closed button; a hand almost got stuck between the doors. It was luckily pulled back out before it broke off.

Ryoma opened his can of ponta and started sipping it. He pondered back to the questions from the reporters. What were his next intentions? Maybe he should go back to Japan, after all. He had contacted Momo several times, but not a lot. Maybe he should go back and visit him.

The prince went back into his hotel room and shut the door. He locked it, and then sat on his bed. He took hold of his tennis racket and looked for a tennis ball.

Rummaging through his suitcase that he had carried around for ten years, he found one tennis ball. He had always wondered why his tennis balls kept going missing after practise. He looked at the ball that he had just taken from his suitcase. He had never seen this ball, perhaps because he had never looked so deeply into his suitcase. Who knew what would be at the very bottom there?

It was a very old ball; the green colour was almost unrecognisable. He stared at the ball for a moment, noticing some eccentric black marks on them; those marks vaguely looked like something about number one. Then words popped into his head.

_Hair too long_, his mind had told himself. Ryoma was wondering where he had heard that phrase before; it seemed far too familiar to be forgotten.

After being reminded for long hair, images started popping into his mind. Auburn hair, pigtails, brown eyes, and porcelain skin, a person's face just formed in his head without him thinking. The image labelled itself. An arrow appeared pointing to the head of the girl, _Ryusaki, _it wrote. The word Ryusaki reminded him of his tennis coach back in Japan. But he was sure the coach was never this young, at least not that he knew of.

Ryusaki echoed in his mind. He needed a first name to recognise this person. As competitive as ever, he racked his brain. He was not going to lose to his memory. He tried to look for some piece of information in his brain that told him who this girl was. Why did she appear in his head when he saw the black marks on an almost deformed tennis ball?

_Ryusaki_, he thought. He forced the image of her back into his head again; he looked into his mind for the second time. Now, second time lucky, he recalled of something.

_Tennis ball…_

A sudden memory jumped back into Ryoma's limited memory storage. Ryusaki was the one who gave him this ball…So this explains the oldness of it.

Samurai Junior stood up, holding his tennis racket and the only ball that he had. He went down to the tennis courts in the hotel and started playing against the wall. A smirk was plastered onto his face as the memories of the girl went back into place. He couldn't remember much, but whoever she was; she definitely gave him a good impression.

Ryoma took back and swallowed the 'Never had a girl crossed his mind' sentence.

He was definitely going back to Japan, enough said.

* * *

I'm definitely going to continue this. Apparently, I like this idea, though not the most original...

I know people don't usually have arrows appearing on the top of their head in one's mind...but I think it creates...the sense in there. It's how Ryoma remembers Sakuno. If there isn't an arrow, he will never have gotten who the girl was...poor guy.

I'm going to go somewhere into reuniting them...


	2. I Note You Down

New chapter! I kept myself with this and continued it. The proof is here!

(This is the edited version of this chapter. I was reading through it when just now and I found mistakes… 29.1.06)

Disclaimer: I don't own POT. End of story.

Enjoy the fic. Credits to those who helped are at the bottom. _Ne?_

* * *

Sakuno grasped her own shirt tightly and widened her eyes in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she had just seen on the news by her very own eyes. It shouldn't have been this shocking when she heard news, but she had long lost self control so it's respectable the way it is.

The news came back on again, flashing on the television screen; the discreetly dressed news reporter announced the outrageous rumour.

"Echizen Ryoma has disappeared from America, missing several interviews and conferences. Where has he gone and what are his intentions?"

Ryoma-kun, once the pillar of Seigaku, had disappeared from the states within one day? Why, where did he go? Sakuno asked herself, frowning slightly as she swiftly glided into the kitchen and got a cup of water. Her hands were shaking slightly as she held the kettle.

Did that mean that she would never see him playing again? Was he going to be like his father and disappear suddenly after alerting the world and taking over Wimbledon?

She sighed as she drank from her cup. Where did he go?

* * *

His face well hidden under a very large cap, he gave his plane ticket to the woman in front of the ticket machine. He watched as the woman inserted the ticket into the machine and the machine sucked the ticket in. The woman nodded, telling a young man in a rather odd looking large hat that he could proceed.

The young man turned to the sign pointing towards business class and first class. People watched as he went in, some perhaps wondered if he turned into the wrong place. No, he hadn't gotten anything wrong, although seemingly by the look of his appearance it might appear that he couldn't see the signs properly. He was dressed in rather old clothing and his hat made him look like an old man who sold newspaper.

But who said newspaper men can't take first class on a flight?

Nevertheless, this man was nowhere near to be a newspaper man. He was far too superior for that. With his possession of twenty million US dollars - first class, why not?

Before he entered the plane, he took a copy of newspaper from the shelf. He caught a glimpse of his own photo as he walked airily to his seat. First class was probably better than the couch in his hotel suite. The seats were much larger, for instance, and you got much more leg room than in the economy.

He took out the newspaper he had gotten and began reading the first page. The first thing that caught his eye was a rather large photo of his self, holding a red racket and smirking confidently. He chuckled quietly at the picture. All right, what was free advertisement to bring him then? Would there be another two million tonne worth of fan girls?

Under the large hat, he started to read the headline.

'Samurai Junior disappeared overnight.'

It wasn't a bad headline. This showed that he had escaped successfully, so far with nobody tracking him down. But it wasn't going to be like this for too long. He had to go back to Japan, visit all his friends before others recognise him, and do whatever he can to avoid the media for as long as possible. But of course, this didn't mean that he had to keep his ugly hat on all the time.

Ryoma took off his odd looking large brown hat and ruffled his own hair. He messed it up so it had its usual shape and flair again.

A flight attendant walked swiftly passed the samurai. Pausing as he spotted a passenger reading some headline news about the worldly ranked number one star tennis player. The flight attendant peered over to see the headline of the piece of news.

Ryoma looked up to see what the nosiness of this flight attendant was about. The flight attendant looked up and caught the passenger's glance. Not realising who was really looking back at him.

The two stared in silence for a split second, and the flight attendant flew back away from the seat of the passenger. There, on the large chair of the first class seat, gulping nervously was the same person that appeared on the headline photo. The attendant inhaled loudly and opened his mouth to say something. No words came out. Shock was the answer to his sudden muteness. Echizen Ryoma, who was ranked number one in the world of tennis and appeared in today's headline news was sitting on the chair of the first class flight today, the flight of which he was attending.

The temporary muteness suddenly gone away and the attendant let out a stunned yelp. The sudden sound made Ryoma jump. The very sharp-witted Ryoma quickly told the yelping young attendant to be quiet. And obediently, the man settled down.

Adjusting his own headphones, Ryoma tried to watch a movie on the plane. He was disturbed regularly by the nosy attendant who walked passed him every single minute. The attendant greeted and asked if there was anything he could help every chance that he could.

"Is there anything I can help you about?" said the flight attendant, smiling very enthusiastically. He was obviously very happy to help the samurai.

_If you stopped talking and gave me break, it would be the most you could do for me_, thought the tennis star.

"What's your favourite type of music?" asked the flight attendant uneasily. He tried to make a conversation with the samurai, and failed so appallingly.

The tennis star rolled his feline eyes. This was going to be a long flight.

* * *

Her hands rested on the door knob, and she paused. Turning her head back slightly, she looked at her living room once again, scanning around, making sure she didn't leave anything. She stared hard at the switched off television, maybe if she turned it on and glimpsed at the news channel again, she would find out that Ryoma-kun didn't disappear after all?

That was what she did.

Staring eagerly at the screen, colour appeared slowly onto it. There was the news reporter; he was talking about the weather. Who cared about weather? The day was well on and everyone would know precisely by now what weather it is today.

_Headline news_, Sakuno thought, _Please go over the headline news! _

Things didn't always occur the way people wanted them to be, especially not for Sakuno. The headline news on the disappearing Ryoma didn't repeat itself. Sakuno clutched onto her shirt and stood up. She weaved her way through her living room and rested her hands onto the door knob again. She grasped the knob tightly and turned it, closing it behind her; she locked the door with her keys and pushed it twice to ensure that it was locked properly.

Sighing as she took off to work, she analysed the news she had heard today. Ryoma-kun's father left for good after winning so many tournaments as well. But Echizen Nanjiroh came back to Japan, didn't he? Couldn't Ryoma-kun be doing the same?

Sighing again as she entered the subway, she decided that Ryoma returning now wouldn't be possible. He probably disappeared suddenly to attend another tournament in Australia, and the media didn't catch it early enough to realise.

* * *

Finally, Ryoma can get out of the annoying first class ride. He thought that first class would have been quieter. But unfortunately, he was placed with a very annoying flight attendant, who got so interested in the samurai and asked a little too many questions. Some of them being rather personal questions which steered Ryoma to get so highly irritated, that he turned his headphones loud enough to damage his hearing permanently. It was so much for first class services.

The prince put his cap back on again. The large brownness of the cap hid his face perfectly, and it even fooled Ryoma himself when he looked into the mirror. He really did look like a poor old newspaper man.

The baggage claiming area was rather crowded and the feline eyed man made his way to the front of the crowd, trying to spot his long used suitcase. People were rather unhappy because an old looking muscular man had just pushed his way in front of them. Some of the people were snarling at Ryoma.

What was with people and physical features? If Ryoma took off his ugly brown hat this instant, the people would so definitely stop the staring and the unmannered pointing.

But of course, he couldn't risk taking off his hat in a situation like this one. If the media knew so early of his location, he wouldn't get enough time to visit his friends and chat with them in peace.

The person under the large brown cap frowned and looked hard at the luggage coming passed. Breathing slowly as he concentrated on locating his own suitcase. He thought he said he wanted his baggage to be put in priority. He clearly remembered the woman sticking a band onto his suitcase which read 'priority baggage' on it.

_So why is it taking so long? _

Ryoma needed to check-in in some hotel and unload his baggage, which apparently wasn't present at the moment.

The mistakably newspaper man look-alike spotted his suitcase and quickly grabbed it. He dropped it onto his trolley and it made a very loud metal crash sound. The prince of tennis was on his way to home again. He glided his trolley passed lots of people and got to the exit of the airport.

" Tokyo, I'm back," said Ryoma quietly under his breath.

* * *

Sakuno worked in a burger joint. It was the exact one that Ryoma-kun and Momo-senpai used to go to. She smiled slightly as she recalled those times when Momo-senpai and Ryoma-kun used to compete with each other in eating. But she couldn't think about the past for too long, she needed to serve the customers.

"Hai, what would you like to order?" Sakuno said cheerfully. Cheerfulness was the key to serving in a fast food joint. Customers had a better appetite and would order more if the servers were more cheerful.

She smiled naturally at the customer she was serving. This customer was a young man at his twenties. He looked strangely familiar to Sakuno.

"Ten hamburgers and two milkshakes please," the man said, "Oh," he added, "and I want my fries super-sized." The man returned a smile back at Sakuno. His smile was genuine and although probably about two sizes larger, he looked like…

Sakuno tilted her head and took a good look at the man, and because her self control was long lost, she widened her eyes, "Momo-senpai!" she said, surprised.

The man looked at Sakuno as though he just realised something, "You know me?" Momo fell into deep thought for a while.

"Hai! I'm Ryusaki Sakuno," said Sakuno, bowing behind the fast food counter. But she got up quickly and finished Momo's order. There was a killer queue behind them and they couldn't hold back to reunite just yet. Sakuno straightened her back and served the next several customers, and then she took a lunch break and went over to join Momo for a short while.

Momo was hungrily eating his sixth burger. He noticed a shadow approaching him and cautiously looked up.

"Sakuno-chan!" Momo said cheerfully, "Long time no see, ne?" Momo rubbed oily lips from the hamburgers asked Sakuno to sit.

"Hai, Momoshiro-san," Sakuno nodded, not sure of what to refer Momo as. The 'senpai' reference was long gone and no longer needed. Calling Momo 'Momo-chan' which the hungry senpai used to like to be called was a little impolite for a coincidental meeting after five years of not seeing the senpais.

Momo shook his head, "You don't remember, don't you? I definitely mentioned before to call me Momo-_chan_, ne?"

Sakuno nodded and smile; _it's the same old Momo-chan._

They talked about what happened after all the others broke off after high school. Momo told Sakuno about what the other senpais are doing now. He looked very pensive when he stared up into space.

"Mamushi worked with computers. I think his job was something to do with programming them, but I'm not good with computers, so I'm not sure. Eiji worked in a toothpaste company; he was the best sales in the company there. People seemed to want to buy toothpaste when they saw Eiji doing acrobatics. It seemed like he converted his tennis into his career," Momo chuckled lightly. He seemed very happy telling somebody about what his previous team mates worked as.

Sakuno laughed as well, she could well imagine Eiji jumping around telling people about the new sparkling jelly paste.

"What about Oishi-san?" Sakuno asked happily. She wondered what the other half of the golden pair would do.

"Oishi? He became a social worker. You know, helping others and everything, he's really well at it, I tell you," Momo seemed certain that Oishi was a very good social worker.

Momo chomped and ate the very last remaining burger, "Ah, finished already?" Momo said. He patted his large stomach and stood up to stretch. Momo seemed to have grown several sizes in the past five years. He grew sideways. Was it the lack of tennis practise and exercise?

"Momo-chan, what is your career then?" Sakuno asked curiously, wondering about Momo's size.

Momo saw Sakuno looking at his large stomach and smiled, "You wondering about my size, ne?"

Sakuno immediately denied, "Iie! I'm only curious, since you told me about so many other senpai's work and…"

"Daijoubu! I'm used to people talking about my size!" Momo said, and then he paused and looked at the ceiling for a split second, "I became a food taster in an ice cream factory."

"You must love it there," Sakuno commented cheerfully.

Momo shook his head, "It was good at the beginning, but eating too much ice cream just turned me off. I'm not buying another one of those ice cream cones anymore."

Sakuno laughed. All the senpais were still so positive and so much of themselves; it was funny how she changed so much. She wasn't that clumsy girl anymore. She was now a much matured twenty two year old university student.

Momo smiled as Sakuno laughed, " Fuji became a doctor. You know, one of those doctors who do operations, cut someone's brain in half or something. Ha-ha, well, I'm not sure what he really does, but it's on those lines."

Sakuno forced an uneasy laugh. Fuji was always Fuji, wasn't he?

"Taka-san became a sushi master, of course," said Momo, "and Inui advanced in making juices and became a scientist." Momo nodded, "I'm not sure where he advanced to, but it's definitely not good because I've heard from Fuji that Inui juices are getting tastier."

"I used to swallow hard whenever I see those juices," laughed Sakuno, "I was lucky that I wasn't in the boys' tennis club."

Momo smiled, "Tezuka is studying a master degree now. Still that model student, isn't he?"

Sakuno was glad that everybody was getting on fine living by themselves.

"Did any of you meet up then?" Sakuno asked.

"How do you think I find out all about what they are doing now if we don't meet up?" Momo laughed. Sakuno laughed as well, but soon, she stopped laughing, looking down at her lap wondering whether or not to ask a question…

There was still one more person that they hadn't discussed about.

"You're still thinking about him, ne?"

* * *

You had no idea how badly the people in the hotel had treated him when he first entered the hotel wearing an ugly brown hat. Those idiots only changed their ideas about him when he took off his cap and showed his striking smile, a fake smile which he forced out. He wasn't very happy then. Those slow idiots immediately gave him first class service and let him in front of the queue. They gave him the best possible room and offered more service, which Ryoma declined.

Ryoma settled down in his suite and lay onto his bed, staring at the ceiling as he wondered on what to do next. He just realised one thing that he had not thought of a while ago, and that would cause him trouble. He didn't know any of his senpai's present addresses. How could he find them?

Ryoma being Ryoma didn't panic as some of his senpais would. He stood up and shrugged; he would just go and get some ponta now. He needed a new storage of it in the mini fridge in this suite anyway.

Travelling across the corridors of the hotel, he wondered why the suites were the farthest rooms away from the lift, and he also wondered about tennis practises. He lost contact with his coach because he wanted to disappear secretly without anyone knowing. Who would train him in tennis in these few weeks that he would be staying in Japan?

He made the decision to think about tennis later. After all, he came to Japan for rest and some peace, away from tennis that had been the only thing that mattered for the last ten years.

As he got into the lift, he slipped on his infamous fila cap and pulled it over his face. The people in the lobby of the hotel wondered who this strange man in a fila cap was. He looked so oddly familiar to somebody in the news this morning…

Ryoma safely got through the hotel lobby without people interrupting his peace. He walked through the automatic door and looked around the street.

_Ten years since_, he thought, _it seems to have changed so much here._

Ryoma wondered if he would get lost around here. It wasn't like him to get lost. He chuckled as he recalled somebody in his past that used to have a very bad sense of direction. He couldn't remember who exactly, but it was someone that made him chuckle at times. And that was a good sign.

He looked around some more and tried to get his directions back into his head. He decided to walk to the right, since it wouldn't really matter which way he went, he could just reverse back return to the hotel suite. He saw many different stores that he hadn't seen for quite a while.

Stopping by a vending machine, Ryoma bought a can of ponta. Grape flavoured, as he had always loved. He took a sip from the can as he realised that he had approached a place very near his former school, Seishun Gakuen. He wanted to go and take a visit at his school just as he realised that he was hungry.

_Where should I go to eat?_ He thought.

He turned his head slightly to look at the busy roads at the end of the street. He gazed at it for a good five seconds and then made up his mind to go to the old burger joint where he and Momo used to snack out in after school. He really wondered if it was still there.

* * *

"You're still thinking about him, ne?" Momo grinned widely; he had always known that this girl had a big crush on the little brat.

"Eh, Momo-chan! I've gotten over him already!" Sakuno blushed as she realised she's just been questioned on something that she would rather not talk about.

"Don't deny it, Sakuno-chan, I can read it in your eyes!" Momo said. Sakuno swore that she saw an evil twinkle in Momo's eyes, and he winked mischievously at her.

"Momo-chan!" Sakuno yelped. Just as he was about to give Momo the death glare, someone called for her presence.

"Ryusaki-san! Lunch break is over, please come back here," the manager was calling for her.

"Oops, I'd better go now," Sakuno said apologetically. She bowed at Momo and left for work.

Momo smiled at the girl as she left, and then started to ponder over the long gone Echizen.

_Where is he now? _

Momo didn't finish his thought and left the hamburger joint.

* * *

"It's still here!" Ryoma said as he looked at the joint in amazement, "this place feels so ancient!"

He was about to enter the restaurant when he saw somebody very familiar leaving the hamburger joint. This person seemed to be three sizes larger than the person that he knew, but Ryoma was sure he's seen that hair before…

"Momo-senpai!" Ryoma tried to call after the large man, but the man had already turned the corner and left out of sight. Ryoma sighed and went into the hamburger joint.

The restaurant was very crowded. The queue was very long, but Ryoma made a dash for it anyway. He was a hungry samurai, after all.

* * *

Sakuno caught a glimpse of messy dark hair at the very end of her line of customers. She wanted to move her head a little to see who it was, but her customer at the moment was blocking her.

"I want two strawberry milkshakes and a double cheeseburger!" the chubby little girl in said. The little girl banged her palms on the table, "Are you listening? Hello?" The girl rolled her eyes.

"H-hai!" Sakuno swallowed in humiliation.

_God, in front of all these people, I'm provoked by a little girl! _

Sakuno typed in the orders and served the little customer first. And then she served the next customer, and then the next customer, and then the next customer.

* * *

Ryoma couldn't stop himself but to stare at the employee at the counter he was in front of. The stunning female had the most beautiful and bright hazel eyes that he had ever seen. Her hair was auburn in colour and hung loose around her waist. Her face was cheery and blissful. Ryoma couldn't help it but – now what's this familiarity?

Ryoma fixed his gaze upon the girl, or rather, woman. He hardly blinked and stared at her with his mouth opened.

"Um…excuse me?" said Sakuno, who was still staring at her machine, getting ready to type. She got irritated for waiting and looked up at the customer. She looked at him in the eye, "Excuse me, can you please give me your order-"

Sakuno stopped, her breath was cut short. She was also experiencing the sudden muteness which caused her to yelp when she got her voice back. She jumped back about a foot or two, knocking down another worker that was carrying some soft drinks to her own customers.

"Daijoubu ka?" Ryoma asked, wondering why the girl had seemed so shocked to see him. Was he this shocking to look at? Ryoma wondered what went wrong with his facial features.

Sakuno had gotten her balance back and apologised many times to the worker she had knocked down, then she came back to her customer.

"Sumimasen, daijoubu," Sakuno said as she bowed. She decided to forget what she had seen just now. How could it be Ryoma-kun anyway? He was somewhere else playing tennis, right?

Ryoma took at food away from the counter and sat somewhere near to the queues, so he could look at the girl while he ate. This way, he wouldn't lose his appetite.

_Tennis ball…_A sudden thought had jumped into his mind while he was chewing his hamburger. He stared at the girl some more, and the image of a girl with braids formed slowly into his mind again. He racked his brain to get the features on her face precisely. When he did, he stared longer at the girl at the counter.

Then he choked.

The hamburger went down the wrong way into his trachea; he started coughing so furiously that he was sure the people around him were all staring. A dark haired man with good muscles choking his hell out in an ancient hamburger joint, it must have looked funny.

The choke felt like he had swallowed a rock and it was stuck in his throat. He really wanted to stuff in fingers into his mouth to get the burger out. He coughed so hard that he spilled his ponta.

_How I love all this attention_, Ryoma thought sulkily to himself, still coughing like a lunatic. He just managed to get the burger to go down the correct pipe again when the girl with the hazel eyes marched over with a mop.

"Daijoubu ka, Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno asked as the prince had gotten a life again after he coughed out his burger.

Ryoma wasn't that surprised that the girl knew his name, "Ryusaki?" Ryoma said.

Sakuno was half way through her mopping when she heard her name being called. She looked up at the prince, "You remember me?" Sakuno blushed slightly at the point where she had eye-contact with the prince.

"Not really," said the prince. He was being honest.

Sakuno smiled slightly, this was Ryoma-kun after all, and how was he supposed to remember someone so long ago back then?

"You gave me a good impression though," Ryoma said and shrugged, breaking his eye contact with the girl, "you gave me the tennis ball years ago, didn't you?"

Sakuno finished mopping the spilt ponta, "Hai. And you still love ponta so much, don't you?"

Both of the twenty two year olds laughed for a bit. Was this destiny that everyone was to meet up this day again?

Sakuno went back to work and Ryoma finished his food.

_Is that it?_ Ryoma thought to himself, he still pondered on the way to reach his other senpais. Then an idea struck him. He stood up and walked over to the counter again, which was now empty because afternoon tea time was over long ago.

"Do you still have the contacts of my senpais?" Ryoma said to Sakuno.

Sakuno looked up from her counter and nodded. She blushed slightly at the fact that the worldly ranked number one prince of tennis was talking to her again.

"Hai, do you want me to tell you them?" Sakuno asked, although she knew the answer.

"Can you give them to me?" Ryoma questioned. He really wanted to see his senpais after not seeing them for so long.

Sakuno took out a note from her pocket, which she had written after she first encountered with Ryoma less than one hour ago.

"Here," Sakuno gave Ryoma the note and left to hide inside the kitchen.

Ryoma read from the note, wondering what it was all about.

_Tomorrow _ _3pm__, at Seishun Gakuen Jr. High. Be punctual!_

Ryoma chuckled at the note. Who was the one who needed to be punctual here? He left the hamburger joint and returned to the suite, on the way, he bought another can of ponta and gulped it down before he got back.

_Seigaku, huh? I haven't been there for ages… _

_

* * *

_

Finally finished. That took a few days, writing took two days and checking took yesterday and today. I had my guinea pig readers to check over the fic as well, so _hopefully_, it'd be fine and _vaguely_ mistake-free.

And of course, CREDITS to some people who helped me with ideas throughout this chapter, as they _commanded_ me to credit them.

They are Natalie, who offered the idea of Ryoma choking a hamburger. And I did use it.

And Net, who let me force many fics down her throat..._hopefully_ she did swallow them.

At the beginning, I wanted to make Ryoma return to his own home in Tokyo, the temple place, ne? But then when I actually got up to the part where I would type out Ryoma's life in Tokyo, I forgot about going back to a temple so I wrote about him in a hotel.

And so to refrain from complications of re-writing a story, I decided to change the fact from the beginning where I stated that Ryoma would go and live with his oyaji.

I stopped using the divider to indicate the POV switching towards the end of the fic, where Ryoma and Sakuno finally met. A divider doesn't fit in there very well, so I decided not to use one.

And **Read and Review**! Yay! Flames accepted too! Yay!


	3. Mind Games and Mind Traps

Chapter three - Long Gone and Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis.

Enjoy the chapter! (I hope you like long chapters...)

_

* * *

_

_The atmosphere was misty and white; you could merely see the airport scenery behind. There was a hand holding a tennis ball. The owner of the hand was a girl. She had a sweet smile on her face, but in her eyes, you could see a tinge of sadness. The girl was standing opposite a boy. The boy was wearing beige trousers that were a little too tight for him. He looked rather dazed at the girl, or the tennis ball. Airplanes were taking off in the background. The boy took the ball and began to leave. The girl looked as he was fading into the mist. She shouted, "Figh-to!" and said a person's name after it, but her voice wasn't quite captured, who was she? _

The blanket sheets on a king sized bed were tearing off. A young dark haired man opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the wooden floorboards of his room being several centimetres away from him. He was in an awkward position, his legs were still on the bed, but his head was weighing him down to the ground. It was telling him to fall over.

Trying hard to keep both sides of his body balanced, he slowly lifted up his head. Only that the heaviest part of the human body was the head. So balancing wasn't entirely possible. The young man fell off the king sized bed, tearing off all the blanket sheets in the process.

"It…itte," said the fallen soul. He picked himself up and looked at the daylights just outside his window. A shadow formed before the sunshine, the shape of Karupin appeared.

"Mraow," said the shadow. It jumped down from the window sill and landed on the floor perfectly. The boy rubbed his eyes and shook his head.

"Karupin," he began, "You died years ago…"

And he was right; the cat vanished right after that. What a morning, the new God of tennis was seeing things, not forgetting that his body felt hollow. When he fell over, he swore he heard a –plunk- sound that shouldn't be heard unless you're hollow. As in your body was made of skin and bones, no muscles or organs. It was something like that.

Picking himself up properly this time, Ryoma recalled his dream just a while before he woke up. He squinted as the daylight flashed into his eyes, he was sure he had witnessed that scene before. Somewhere in the airport when he was still a kid. And there was that girl, the one with the braids…Ryusaki. What were they doing at the airport?

Refusing to give up depicting the mystery, Ryoma tried to rack his memory for a clue. He couldn't, and he wondered why he had such a small memory space. All he seemed to be able to remember of were the things that he once thought were the most important in his life. For example, there was tennis. He could remember every single detail of all his tennis matches. Every twitch his opponent made. But he couldn't recall anything else. The social part of his life was always unimportant to him, so the brain let all the events from it go. His brain was like a filter, anything that didn't relate to tennis was automatically blocked from entering the storage. Within one day, he would forget about it. And this included whatever that happened in his little dream. It had definitely happened and he couldn't remember it.

Well, at least he knew it happened, that was a good start, wasn't it?

* * *

It was ten in the morning, and an auburn haired girl was stressing in front of her wardrobe. Her long hair was wild, it needed combing, but Sakuno decided to worry about that later. All she had to do now was find something to wear. 

In front of her, stood a large opened brown wardrobe, the clothes inside were colour coded and neatly hung up. The sock drawer was also opened; the socks were all carefully folded and were also in position based on colour.

Sakuno frowned at the garments before her. She just had to choose one set from all of that clothing. Why was it so hard? She hadn't been staring at her wardrobe for such a long while now. Why would this occasion be more important than the others?

A voice in her head told her that the former prince, now the God of tennis was going to meet her at three. And she wanted to present herself nicely so that he wouldn't look away when he saw her.

Another voice told her that it was because she hadn't gotten over her childhood puppy love yet. She still cared for her number one dearly and wanted to look good in front of him.

Sakuno picked the first voice, because she denied that she hadn't gotten over the Tennis God.

It was unusual for a person like Sakuno to shrug, but today, she did it because she needed to practise her character. And then she would have more personality in front of Ryoma-kun. She practised being cool on things at home.

She shrugged off the clothing crisis and grabbed a nice looking shirt that hung smartly on a hanger in the wardrobe. Grabbing a skirt, she tried to fit the two together to see if they looked good with each other. She placed them onto her bed and took a good look at them. Frowning as she thought hard, she put the shirt back into the wardrobe and took out another shirt.

All right, admit it, Ryusaki Sakuno never got over her love for the prince.

* * *

Room service arrived and breakfast was placed orderly on Ryoma's table. The male with feline eyes pulled out his chair and sat in front of the coffee table. He smiled agreeably as he noticed the Japanese breakfast before him. 

He remembered how he used to sulk when he saw English breakfast. Maybe it was because he got bored of the style of breakfast when he was in America. He came to Japan and demanded Japanese breakfast in the morning, or he would have a bad day. Since then, his mother threatened him with English breakfast so he would do certain things, such as help out with the chores in the house.

Ryoma praised his breakfast some more, and was about to start eating when he saw a piece of note paper stuck on the coffee table. He picked it up and read it.

_Tomorrow 3pm, at Seishun Gakuen Jr. High. Be punctual!_

Memory strucked him and he remembered what kept him so hollow in the morning. He knew he had forgotten something at the time when he woke up. Besides the fact that he almost forgotten that his cat had died.

So the braided girl asked him out.

He liked the sound of that. Ever since he saw her yesterday, he recalled himself staring at her in the hamburger joint. He even sat on a table nearer to her to get a better view.

The young man scratched his head, covered with the most charming dark hair. He thought of the dream he had in the morning again, the one where the girl handed the boy a tennis boy. If his assumption was correct, the boy should be himself, and the girl should be Ryusaki. And if the girl was handing him a tennis ball, of which he took and left as he waved good bye…then that means-

"The tennis ball that she gave me…" Ryoma started mumbling to himself as he remembered more. So she gave him the tennis ball in the airport, and the only obvious time where he was at the airport at that age, was when he left for America…

"So the tennis ball was a gift from her for America!" Ryoma said and clapped his hands once to show that he had thought of something. But then he settled down again and started to eat his breakfast. Let's just concentrate on the future, and stop worrying about forgetting things from the past, he decided.

* * *

It was noon, and the sun was shining so dazzlingly. Sakuno was crossing over a bridge built on top of a very busy road. She stopped in the middle of the bridge and noticed the short shadow of the lamppost. It was noon, after all, where all shadows became short. She let herself lean over the railings of the bridge, and stared out into the long view of cars and high storey buildings. Not that it was a very nice view, but she enjoyed having deep thoughts there. 

She remembered that a few days ago, she was still a stupid fan girl who watched every match of the samurai's on television. She still cherished the moments that she had spent with the prince when she was young. And a few days ago, those moments were only dead memories. They were past and they were dead. She thought she would never see him again. When the news announced his disappearance on television, she really thought he went to Australia for tennis or something.

But instead, he came back to Japan to visit his senpais. This was the part where Sakuno felt touched about, but also where she felt slightly disappointed. It was a good thing that he came back to visit his senpais, but Sakuno was disheartened that he had forgotten so much about her.

Her spirits were slightly uplifted when he said her name in the hamburger joint. It meant that he remembered her name. But when she asked him if he remembered her, he said he didn't really. The deep corner of her mind wanted to punch the forgetful number one seeded player of Wimbledon, but she kept her cheerful self because he was a customer, after all, a posh customer.

And afterwards, when he asked for his senpai's contact information, she was sure that he only came for the sake to visit his senpais. Although she was never so known to him when they were young, she had always dreamed that Ryoma-kun would one day come back to see her.

Half of the dream came true, he did come back. It wasn't for her, that's all.

But it didn't matter, thought Sakuno. She shrugged off the matter like she did previously, practising her coolness again. She really wanted to impress the prince. Maybe it was because he was kind of like a celebrity. He appeared on television everyday. Or maybe it was her love for the prince, again.

Sakuno shrugged, and shrugged, and she shrugged. She didn't like Ryoma-kun; she got over him, right?

She stopped leaning onto the railings of the bridge and walked to the other side of the street. There was no work for her today; she took a day off from the hamburger joint.

Today, she was going to go to her old junior high school as a visitor. It was the annual school tour where people could visit Seishun Gakuen. She would look around herself, and see how the tennis team in Seigaku was progressing. The last golden tennis era, where Tezuka buchou still lead the Seigaku tennis team had long passed. No one knew when the next one would be. Sakuno wanted to watch one of those exciting junior high school tournaments again. She wished she was still in junior high school, and she could watch the young Ryoma-kun play like he used to again. It's not that she didn't like the way he played now. But he used to be much more carefree, and his face revealed certain limits of innocence. That was the boy of her dreams when she was still a teenager. He was still her dream boy, or man, which ever way you prefer it, until yesterday when she saw him in person again after ten years of watching him on television. Her dream had woken up and it was playing presently. It was like a miraculous movie, and she was the main female character. The other main role was taken by the legendary prince, Echizen Ryoma. A bubble suddenly popped and she was alive again.

Sakuno checked her watch; there were still two hours until her tour in Seigaku. She had asked Ryoma to go with her today.

Her cell phone rang; a soft tune played and repeated itself two times before Sakuno could find the ringing object in her bag. It was a flip phone, a pink hello kitty one. She loved adorning her phone with much different diamond like stickers and little beaded strings. She flipped open her phone and pressed the green button.

"Moshi moshi?" she said to the person on the other side of the line. The other side was a lot more crowded than her side, she could tell by the noise coming through the phone.

"Hello? Ryusaki-chan, it's me, Fuji," said the other side of the line.

Sakuno smiled as she heard her former senpai's voice. Everyone seemed to be meeting up in these few days. Ryoma-kun had come back, she met Momo-chan yesterday, and now Fuji-san called her, "Fuji-san! How are you?"

"I'm fine," said the blue eyed male, you could hear the smiling from the voice.

Over at his side of the line, there were seven people gathered around him, "Are you going to the Seigaku tour today?" The smiling tensai asked.

Many people were going to the tour today; it wasn't a surprise for Sakuno that her former senpais were going too. They probably wanted to see the new tennis team.

"Hai! I'm going," Sakuno said.

"Well, would you like to come with us?" Fuji asked politely, like always. 'Us' meant the other senpais, and Sakuno knew by then that the noises behind the other line were made by the large bunch of young men. Sakuno giggled a little as she thought on. If they were on the street, the other citizens would be scared off by now. She could faintly hear the sounds of Momo-chan and Kaidoh-san arguing, Kikumaru-san yelling in the background, and Oishi-san trying to calm everyone down.

Her giggling stopped as she analysed her senpai's question.

"Ano…" Sakuno hesitated a little on this question. She asked Ryoma to go with her tomorrow, already. Could she really…

Then an idea popped up in her head.

"Fuji-san, do you know about the disappearance of Ryoma-kun? Well, he…" And Sakuno told Fuji-san her idea.

* * *

Inside a sushi restaurant, sat a mysterious dark haired man who looked familiar to the other customers. He was eating sushi and drinking ponta. He wanted to eat lunch before he went to the so called 'date'. 

He smiled at the word 'date'. When was the last time he went on one? Probably last year, just before he started the tournament somewhere in Asia, his oyaji forced him into having dinner with this other girl. Oyaji wanted them to fall for each other or something, it was like he expected them to meet up once and fall in love. This wasn't possible, and Ryoma didn't believe in love at first sight.

Well, it turned out that the girl only came in courtesy of his oyaji. She didn't really want to come either. They had a chat and decided to trick oyaji into thinking that something happened. Ha-ha, well, that oyaji had always believed in his stupid little fibs, hadn't he? So the whole thing was forgotten after a while.

Ryoma looked forward to this 'date' though. He had just reunited with the hazel eyed girl, who used to give him a good impression.

Fine, he didn't really remember all that well of her, but he saw her in his dreams. Like the one last night, and that was a good thing.

Cat eyes sat still for a moment, staring hard at the menu written in chalk on the wall opposite him. He finished drinking his ponta and paid for his meal.

* * *

"Will we make it in time?" Sakuno asked her friend Tomoka. They were running across the path towards the school. It was almost three o'clock, and there were still several things that were left to be taken care of. 

"Ne, Sakuno-chan, don't worry, we'll put the show on perfectly!" the brown haired friend said. They were both out of breath and needed a rest. Their knees were bent slightly and they both used their legs as support for their body.

They were both at Sakuno's house preparing so food just a while ago. They didn't realise the time came so fast and they rushed out of the house with the food.

"You want a drink?" Tomoka asked Sakuno, spotting a vending machine next to a restaurant. She smiled at Sakuno and took out her wallet, "I'll pay, since I was the one who put us into this panic."

Sakuno watched her friend walk over to the vending machine about five feet away. There was a gentle breeze, it was a nice day.

"Sakuno-chan?" Tomoka turned, "ponta, ne?" she asked.

Ponta reminded Sakuno of Ryoma-kun. She remembered that he always used to drink it, and she wondered what he was doing now, thirty minutes away from three o'clock.

"Hai, arigatou, Tomo-chan," Sakuno nodded and smiled.

Maybe he was still sleeping, thought Sakuno; he had a habit of being late.

Tomoka handed Sakuno her drink and they moved on.

"We better hurry and get to the school," said Sakuno, "We should really get there by now…" And Sakuno worried that they wouldn't get there in time.

"Don't worry! Senpai-tachi and some students said that they would prepare everything," Tomoka gave Sakuno a reassuring smile.

* * *

I better get a move on, thought Ryoma. He began walking towards the direction of the school. 

Some may wonder why he didn't take the taxi, he was so rich and everything. Well, let's just say he wants to keep himself fit, because he wouldn't be training these few weeks. A nice walk would do some good, right?

"Let's see…I should turn right from here…" Ryoma abruptly turned right and walked in a straight line. The directions were going fine on him, ten years wasn't enough to brain wash him to lose all his mapping skills.

* * *

Sakuno and Tomoka entered the school tennis courts; they called for the nearest former senpai that they could see. 

"Inui-san! We brought the food here!" said Tomoka, waving frantically.

"Hm…that's good, put it on the table over there," Inui pointed and then lowered his voice to mutter to himself, "this is certainly a very good experience for me," Inui took out a green note book, "I will collect new data on Echizen…ii data…"

* * *

The weather was warm, and birds were chirping loudly in the nearby trees. Ryoma was probably a several hundred metres away from the school entrance. He realised that the one thing that had changed over the years in the school was that it became a lot greener. Almost like the way Ginka was ten years ago. 

"This nature will eventually get me lost," muttered Ryoma, who didn't know how near he was to the entrance. He kicked up some dirt on the ground, and the dirt hit the bushes beside him, making a loud -whish- noise. Ryoma stared at the bush for several more seconds before deciding to keep walking.

"O-chibi!" yelled a voice several metres away, "Hoi hoi! Do you remember me?"

Ryoma looked up and saw a redhead racing towards him. The redhead pounced onto him and ruffled his hair when he caught Ryoma. Ryoma crouched down slightly and pulled out a face, pushing his former senpai away.

"Kikumaru! Stop it!" With Ryoma's present force, Eiji was pushed back several feet.

"Nya, o-chibi! No 'senpai' after 'Kikumaru', huh?" Eiji said. He grinned and pulled out a 'V' with his fingers, "You're very strong now, but you're always our o-chibi!" Eiji laughed at Ryoma's height.

Ryoma was still very slightly shorter than Kikumaru, and he was very irritated because of that.

Couldn't I have grown several more centimetres? He thought. He crossed his arms and frowned.

"Nya, don't feel sad, o-chibi, you're only twenty two, still growing, ne?" joked Eiji, he grinned again, "Anyway, follow me."

Ryoma followed Eiji, who lead him to the school entrance.

"You know your way from here, nya?" Eiji began, "Just go to the tennis courts, nya!"

The hyper twenty four year old kid skipped quickly away.

* * *

"Ryoma-kun is here already?" Sakuno checked her watch, he was five minutes early. She sulked and blamed Inui for calculating the wrong data. After all, he needed to re-new it, right? So it was inaccurate about when Ryoma would be where. They shouldn't have trusted Inui, just yet, thought Sakuno. 

"We're not ready yet," said Momo-chan, chewing up several chocolate buns. There were crumbs all over him, several people wandering pass reluctantly laughed at his mess.

"Saa…don't worry, it will be okay," said Fuji, who flashed a smile at all the other people, "Sakuno-chan? Can you make your way to the entrance, following the main path? You should see Echizen there. Escort him here."

Sakuno nodded and glanced at a few other former senpais. They all nodded back at her, and she left quickly.

* * *

Ryoma was examining the newly painted and repaired buildings in Seigaku. They looked so new, and so brilliantly white…it was just unbelievable that Seigaku was almost a hundred years old… 

He turned the corner and heard several voices. There were three shadows at the end of the path, three familiar shadows. Ryoma walked closer and eavesdropped to their conversation…

"…Did you know? Today is the 100th anniversary of Seishun Gakuen middle school! There is going to be fireworks at eight o' clock tonight! If we stay here until then, we'll be able to see it!" The person who said this nodded wisely and put his hands onto his hips.

"Really? How do you know?" said one.

"Yea, how do you know?" said the other.

"Research!" said the first person, who flashed a knowing smile at the other two, "I mean, a 12 year long tennis experience, what can't you expect from me?"

"Wow!" chanted the other two in unison.

Ryoma smiled at the three people, who all happened to turn over to see who was stalking them.

"Hi," Ryoma said, he smiled at the three again and stood still.

The three were stunned into silence. They widen their eyes, but squinted to see if they saw correctly…that Ryoma-kun is…

"You're back!" said Kachiro.

"When? Why didn't you tell us?" said Katsuo.

"Yea! You should have told us, so I could challenge you earlier!" bragged Horio.

"Impossible!" said Katsuo and Kachiro simultaneously, and for once, did not believe in Horio.

"I'm back," nodded Ryoma, "and I'll take your challenge anytime, Horio." Ryoma smirked, "How about now?" and took out his red tennis racket from his bag.

The three suddenly realised that something wasn't right. So the reason why the senpais were preparing…

"Oh, maybe some other day," said Horio, "uh, congratulations for becoming champion and er…we're all busy…visiting the school today, right?" Horio asked his two friends.

"Hai!" Katsui and Kachiro nodded nervously.

"Let's go!" said Horio.

Ryoma watched as his three old school friends left. They kept their personalities, which Ryoma had a good time laughing at. He was starting to suffer from nostalgia.

* * *

The leaves rustled on the ground, a gentle breeze blew by. It meandered through Sakuno's legs, and travelled delicately through the air. Sakuno was wearing trousers, in case anybody had any second thought. The day was warm, with a bit of wind, and Sakuno was wondering around the school. She was trying to figure out where the 'main path' to the entrance of the school was. The place she was in right now was surrounded by trees and didn't have a proper concrete footpath. It didn't look like the 'main path' to her, which if she had remembered properly, was very wide and was covered with neat and graceful flat stones. It wasn't like this, she thought. 

The environment seemed to be whirling around her when she felt a very rapid forward progression of her body. She fell onto the ground; her knees met the damp earth first. Her legs weren't scratched because the floor wasn't concrete, but she cursed the ground anyway. Her trousers were all muddy now, and it was all because she got lost and fell onto this bare ground.

Pulling herself back up, Sakuno tried to clean off the dirt on her trousers. She criticised herself for being so clumsy today and realised that she had almost forgotten that she was supposed to be finding Ryoma-kun.

"You're lost," said a familiar voice that came from behind. Sakuno turned quickly in curiosity to find out who the mysterious person was.

"You're too clumsy," said the same familiar voice again. Sakuno was stunned to see who the person was. Wait a minute, wasn't she the one who was supposed to find…

"Ryoma-kun-"

"Hair too long," said the person, "you're never going to get it cut, are you?"

Although Sakuno had trimmed her hair several times, it still remained as pleasantly long as she had liked it. She had gotten rid of her braids years ago, when she was laughed at in high school. But that was all right; Tomo-chan stood up for her and scared everyone away.

Sakuno was pissed that Ryoma hadn't noticed that her hair was different. It was trimmed, and untied for heaven's sake!

"I got my hair trimmed before!" Sakuno said proudly. Although nobody would know her hair was trimmed until she said so.

Ryoma pulled out an amused frown on his face. He shrugged and began to walk away, "Anyway," he said, "aren't you going to bring me somewhere?"

Sakuno started to wonder how Ryoma knew her purpose for being where she was. She wasn't on the main path of the school or anything, why did he know that she was supposed to escort him? And why was Ryoma here in the first place?

"H-hai!" She answered and started to walk behind Ryoma, "Ryoma-kun?"

"Hn?" Ryoma answered, he stopped walking to wait for Sakuno.

"Why are you here?" Sakuno asked. This was a very general question, it could mean several things. Examples include:

a) What are you doing in this planet?

b) What are you doing in Japan?

c) Why are you in Seishun Gakuen?

d) Why are you in this deserted path?

e) Why are you with me?

f) And, the last but not least, what the hell are you doing (here)?

Ryoma, being oh-so-witty, picked c.

"You asked me out, didn't you?" said Ryoma. He was a little confused by Sakuno's vague but simple question. It was a very demanding question, like someone who pulled you by the collar asked what the hell you were doing in a place like this.

Sakuno shook her head and laughed, "I know I asked you to be in Seigaku," Sakuno reduced her laughing into little giggles, "but I mean, why are you here in this quiet area of the school?"

"Oh," Ryoma said, slightly humiliated. He was a little confused about ten seconds ago. Once this girl started laughing, the confusion wasn't there anymore, "I uh, was wandering around…"

He couldn't say that he got lost. There was no way in hell that he would say that to this girl of all people. He was always the one who remarked the girl on her poor sense of directions and her clumsiness, and also the length of her hair. But never was she the one to remark anything about him. He was way too superior for anyone to comment or rant about. He was better than anyone, so there.

"Well, do you know the way back?" Sakuno asked innocently, "because I got lost, too, I think…" she blushed in embarrassment, hoping that Ryoma would know the way…

But he didn't, of course. He was trying to find the way to the tennis courts as well, only to wander into a tree overloaded area of the school, and walked on a very narrow path.

Ryoma looked away. He sensed the deepness of his trouble. He needed to solve this…but-

"Okay then, I'll follow you," Sakuno said, assuming that the silence meant that Ryoma knew the way.

He took a deep breath and started walking the way that he considered the way back. He didn't remember Seigaku being this big. Did it reconstruct and increase in size during these ten years? If this was so, then Ryoma was in the worse situation.

There were several aspects that brought him into this dilemma.

1. He was trying to act cool. But well, more like he was trying to act like the cocky brat that he was when he was twelve. Let's see, 'no way in hell that he would tell Sakuno that he was lost', wasn't that the way of trying to keep his reputation?

2. He remained silent, which was the killer response to most girls. They would immediately assume it meant 'yes'.

3. He wouldn't give up. Somewhere in the back of his head told him to forget his reputation. It wasn't his fault that his parents made him such a competitive person. He liked to win in games, and mind games were also a part.

* * *

"Sakuno-chan went for a long time, didn't she?" said Fuji, finishing off the detailed bits of the decorating. 

"Where did she go?" said the worried Tomoka. Her friend was known for getting lost, and Seigaku had gotten a lot bigger since they last came, maybe she had…

"There is a 98 percent chance that she got lost," began Inui, "But if my data is still correct…"

"Continue, Inui," said Momo, who wanted to know Inui's interpretations.

"Well, Kikumaru went to find Echizen earlier, and he found him already by the entrance of Seigaku. He instructed Echizen to come straight to the tennis courts and…" Inui adjusted his glasses.

"And?" said Kaidoh, who was also listening.

"And unfortunately, the paths leading to the tennis courts have changed ever so slightly during these years…so there is a very large chance that Ryusaki and Echizen both turned the wrong corner into the new Seigaku garden…which…" Inui adjusted his glasses again.

"Which?" Asked Taka-san nervously, the former senpais had started to realise the problem…

"Saa…I forgot to tell Sakuno-chan that the paths had changed," remarked Fuji, whose smile looked like he was up to something, "anyway, Inui, please continue…"

"…the new garden is designed to be like a maze…well, not exactly, but the trees are pretty tall and the paths are winding and confusing. There are many split paths which lead to different places."

The people gasped.

Horio stood up in front of all the former senpais, "I have heard that one of the paths lead to Shinjuku!"

"Oh no! That far?" said Katsuo and Kachiro. Horio nodded wisely and put in arms onto his hips.

"He's right," proved Inui, "That's the biggest trouble, from here to Shinjuku is a very long walk. If they happened to turn into that path, they won't be able to get out until two in the next morning."

Silenced erupted around the tennis area of Seigaku. Nobody had anything to say. If Echizen and Ryusaki both walked in, then they might come across something dangerous in the duration…

"…l-let's go and find them, they may still be around here somewhere," said Oishi, his body language was changing from his previous calm self into the panicked figure he was now.

Everybody nodded and ran off to find the lost two. Momo-chan tried to go and look for Echizen in the cafeteria, first. You would never know if he was snacking there…

* * *

The grass made sounds whenever Sakuno and Ryoma made a step. The sky was starting to darken and the two increased their pace ever so slightly. 

"R-Ryoma-kun…we've been walking for a long time now…" Sakuno stated. It was the truth, what she said. It was also the truth that Ryoma wished wasn't true. Ryoma stopped and looked at the tree beside him. His gazed fixed upon several mushrooms planted on the floor in front of the trees. Four identical looking mushrooms…

"I've seen these before…" muttered Ryoma. He was sure that he had seen these trees, and these infuriating mushrooms on the floor. If he had seen them before, it meant…

"We're walking in circles…" said Sakuno.

Ryoma nodded slightly and turned away from Sakuno. He made sure that he did not look at her in the eye. He coughed slightly and pretended to whistle.

"Admit it, Ryoma-kun," began Sakuno, who smiled so brilliantly at the prince, "You never knew the way since the beginning, did you?"

It was like a dozen of hard rocks all flying at Ryoma at the same time. The rocks were sharp, and piercing. Blood dripped out of Ryoma's cheeks. And his body was scratched.

Ouch, thought Ryoma.

Ryoma shook his head; he had to stop thinking of so many similes.

"Uh," Ryoma began, what can he say? Admit it, really?

Sakuno smiled and started walking, "You know, we're not going to get out of here unless we know the way…"

And I had observed for the several circles that we walked, there were many other paths that we could take, thought Sakuno.

"Look over there," continued Sakuno, who pointed at the direction of a small path beside them, "We haven't tried walking that way yet."

Ryoma shook his head, disagreeing with the trial and error method, "How do you know that it's the right way?"

There were many paths all over the place, some of them might lead back to the tennis courts, and others might not.

"I don't know," said Sakuno, who shrugged. Her 'coolness' was getting on pretty well. She hardly stuttered and was capable of stating things, "But if we don't try, we'll continue walking in circles."

* * *

"Any luck?" said Oishi as all the helpers gathered around the tennis courts again. All of them shook their heads and sighed. They had been planning some kind of welcoming party for Ryoma all afternoon, but the main character was lost somewhere in the new garden. 

"So much for all this planning, maybe we should hold the party at two in the next morning," said Momo-chan, happily gobbling away with his newly refilled basket of chocolate buns. He had a new obsession with chocolate buns these days. He enjoyed chewing up a whole basket of them in one minute. That was his record; he wanted to break it…maybe in the party…

All the visitors including the former senpais couldn't think of anything that they could do to find the lost souls. While the people were wondering what they could do, Fuji and Kikumaru were chattering in a corner.

"Nya! You made slight changes to the original plan?" said Eiji quietly. He was pretty amazed the success.

Fuji nodded, "Should we tell them?" said Fuji, motioning his finger to point at the rest of the troop.

Eiji shook his head in disagreement, "What are you thinking, nya? They will kill you! And me as well, since I know about it now!"

"I don't mind. I just want to see them suffer," said Fuji.

Eiji sighed and gave up, "Nya, whatever then."

Fuji smiled and turned away to face the party of people. The other people looked to see what Fuji was up to.

"Don't worry," Fuji began, "They'll be fine," Fuji smiled. Now everyone knew that he planned everything. The party understood something now.

Oishi was the first one to understand what Fuji was hinting by saying 'don't worry.'

"Don't tell me that you planned out our reactions to this situation as well," said Oishi, who was sunken into disbelief. A while ago, he was frantically searching all over the school (except for the garden) to find Echizen and Ryusaki, and now Fuji told him that they weren't really lost.

Fuji nodded, "They're in the garden, as far as I know," began Fuji, "but don't worry, there are direction signs everywhere in there."

But the signs were only useful if they could figure it out, thought Fuji.

He smiled wider and went to the vending machine, "It's about time now…" he bent down to retrieve his drink.

A cold wind breezed across the warm air of a summer evening.

This didn't feel right, as the group of people behind Fuji shared their thoughts.

* * *

Whew...this took me a week. At least I updated...tell me if you find any mistakes...my eyes were going sore trying to edit this... 

Oh, and I chose Shinjuku because it was in between Harajuku and Shibuya. I thought it would made sense because, as long as Seigaku wasn't in Shinjuku, then the school would be a fair distance away from it.

Anything else...hm, oh and, for the next chapter, I'm going in include some nice notices from mushrooms.

Next update would take long though...this story is getting into the main path now...it's getting harder to write.

**Please read and review**. Tell me my flaws, I really really really want to know where the mistakes are. My eyes are too sore to see them...haha.

OH, and special thanks to the same people. Net, Carrie, and Nat (who I never received feedback from.)


	4. Bendy Mushrooms and Big holes

Whew, I finally typed it up:D

I think this fic is kinda getting out of place. I need to fix it in the next chapter. :p Which won't be in a while.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Prince of Tennis. Here's the chaotic situation that will definitely happen if I do. Skip ahead to read the fic if you are either uninterested or are feeling uncomfortable about my uncontrolled imagination. Well, if I do own the Prince of Tennis, I will be writing about Ryoma and Sakuno being forced to get married at the age of 12. They willlive in the same house, same room,same bed...I shall not say more.

Chapter 4 - Bendy Mushrooms and Big Holes

Enjoy!

* * *

"It's about time now…" said the tensai as he bent down and retrieved his drink. He stood up and smiled at the group of people behind him, "Don't worry," he said to the very wary looking faces of the group, "It's nothing bad that I've planned, really," he said innocently. Not that anybody believed him, anymore…

* * *

They hadn't seemed to be wandering for a very long time, but the sky was definitely getting too dark. Two Seigaku graduates were wandering through the Seigaku garden. The garden had no lights, and the graduates had no flashlights. This combination didn't click, and there were various reasons for that. The most obvious reason was that the two unfortunate souls had lost their ability to see completely, that was because of the amount of darkness severely surrounding them. Other reasons would include the fact that one was female and the other was male. Being stuck in a place like a forest with a member of the opposite sex wasn't very good. Not forgetting to mention that they were trying to keep their directions in the dark, if they ever had any. So they traced their paths with trees alongside, and they also gently brushed against each other frequently. This made sure that they were still together. 

Ryoma quietly analysed the situation. Everything seemed very suspicious; he turned into a dark corner into this place without thought beforehand. Maybe there was a sign somewhere that read 'do not enter'. And he obviously did not catch it. Ryoma was usually observant and very careful. But today, he seemed too careless. He couldn't believe that being careless for a day would get him into a condition like this.

He felt the hazel eyed girl brushing against him again. She had been doing this ever since they had lost their sight in the dark. She was probably anxious, and if she ever lost him in a situation like this, she couldn't cope.

Ryoma liked this fact, if it were true. Knowing that he was the hero made him feel superior. And that of which he liked.

"Ryusaki," Ryoma began, "do you know where we are going-" His speech was ended abruptly as he underwent a sudden downward plunge of doom into nothingness.

The sounds of earth toppling over into the nothingness that the prince had stepped onto alerted Sakuno, who was busily wondering about the possibilities of happenings between the two of them.

"Eh, Ryoma-kun!" exclaimed Sakuno as she realised that she could no longer brush against the samurai junior who was supposedly beside her, "Where are you?" she asked desperately, she very well knew that she couldn't cope going solo.

A very faint mumble was heard from where Sakuno was. She squinted and adjusted her head forty five degrees downwards. If she could see correctly, there was a large black hole before her. And within the blackness, was a tinge of green that emitted a purple aura.

"I-ite…" mumbled the green-purple-ness. The green-purple-ness was shivering slightly and was clutching onto something.

"Ryoma-kun!" yelled Sakuno from above the black hole. The green and purple Ryoma looked up and frowned.

That was embarrassing, thought the prideful Ryoma, usually, when he did something as shameful as falling into a ditch, he would find a way to come out of it alone.

Sakuno reached her hand out.

To be saved by a girl, he continued his train of thoughts, was not so good...

Deciding on whether or not to accept the help from the girl, he thought over the reasons on all of this happening.

Fine, he thought again as he gave in. It was his fault that he was here in the first place anyway. Wasn't he the one who walked into the garden without looking?

He reached his hand out and locked it into Sakuno's small palms.

"One, two," Sakuno counted before she put force into pulling Ryoma up, "three." And there was a weak upward force which was scarcely enough to lift Ryoma. The prince's feet took off from the damp grounds of the ugly ditch for a moment, before the upward force suddenly vanished and a much unexpected backward movement occurred.

Before anybody could possibly recognise the situation taking place, the two were wedged in a very awkward position. This wasn't the first awkward position that Ryoma had been in ever since the morning where he fell off his bed. But this time, it was simply too uncomfortable. With long auburn hair smoothed over your face, and uneasy hazel eyes staring a few centimetres away, it was too much for a young tennis player like Ryoma. Although the most unlikely thing that happened to be true was that Ryoma didn't tell Sakuno to move away immediately. In fact, he paused for several seconds and waited until the girl jumped off by herself.

She leapt off very quickly and examined her shoes. She kicked the mud on the ground gently with her shoes and held her hands together. Her fringe blocked her from seeing the prince's dazed appearance, and she turned away to look at the edges of the deep ditch.

There was a long silence as Ryoma stood up very slowly. He brushed off the dirt on his trousers and looked at the form of the ditch. It was a very deep ditch, and it wasn't likely to be naturally formed, unless a miniature asteroid landed sometime before to form a crater…or this ditch had to be manmade.

"It's a deep hole, isn't it?" said Ryoma, talking to himself as he analysed the possibilities of people setting him up to fall in.

Sakuno turned around, her cheeks crimson from embarrassment, "U-un…" Sakuno nodded in agreement.

Ryoma grabbed the sides of the large hole and tried to climb up. The earth was very fragile, and it crumbled as Ryoma placed his weight on it.

"And this hole is going to get larger if we rely on the strength of the walls to climb up," Ryoma said and stared fixedly at the mud on the floor that had just fallen.

"Ano…" began Sakuno, who snapped when she saw the mud on the ground, "Do you think-"

"I know!" Ryoma said as he clicked his fingers.

* * *

Anxious bodies buried themselves and sat down on the ground. They looked up at the tensai, who was relaxed and smiling as dazzlingly as ever. 

"Fuji, this means you know how to get them back, right?" said Oishi, probably the most worried of the whole group.

Fuji nodded, but followed his nod by shaking his head, "But I'm not going to save them," said Fuji, "the fun just began," he said.

The group sighed and went back to think.

Out in the corner, Eiji and Momo were discussing something. They turned to face Fuji, their faces like stone, "Fuji, if you don't tell us how to save them, we'll confiscate your camera," said Eiji as he grabbed Fuji's camera from a bag.

Fuji smiled at them; "You can't blackmail me," said Fuji, "Only I can do the blackmailing," Fuji rummaged through his own bag and took out something, "And besides, I have many spares at home," Fuji flashed a shining silver camera at the former tennis regulars.

So threats wouldn't work.

* * *

A chilly breeze whined its way through the buildings of Seishun Gakuen middle school. The wind entered the dark garden of Seigaku. It twisted and turned until it reached the very large hole in the very middle of the forest. The wind blew the hazel eyed female's hair up. It followed the direction of the wind as Sakuno tried to hold her hair still. 

"It's a very windy day," Ryoma remarked. For the last few minutes, he had been trying to use the fallen mud as a step to climb back up to the land. But the edge seemed to get a lot farther every time mud fell. And because of the constant movement of the edge of the hole, Ryoma had to shift his 'mud step' so it would be right beside the edge. Things didn't always go his way as it did in tennis, and this time wasn't an exception. The mud didn't budge, and as a result, Ryoma slipped head first into the pile of dirt because he was putting too much force in it.

Sakuno didn't notice the chaotic situation that Ryoma was in until Ryoma made his first groan. This meant that Ryoma had his head stuck in the mud, not forgetting to mention that the mud absorbed sound energy, so Ryoma had to get his head out before he could groan.

"Ite!" Ryoma said in frustration. If mud was so good at sound insulating, it would be good use to block out the sounds of the crowds during matches. But mud in this situation was aggravating.

Sakuno looked up from where she was sat. She sat down because she was waiting for Ryoma to complete his 'step'. She already told him that his brilliant idea wouldn't work, or at least she tried to tell him. He was so proud of his idea that he wouldn't listen to anything else.

"Ryoma-kun, Are you okay?" Sakuno stood up in the dark as her eyes tried to trace the contour of Ryoma's figure. She vaguely saw some greasy black hair shining back at her. Ryoma turned around to face the bewildered Sakuno.

"What?" said Ryoma, he was still very exasperated from the unintentional fall a moment ago. He frowned at the figure of the girl several feet away from him.

Sakuno realised that there was a slight difference in Ryoma's appearance. His colour was…different, "Ryoma-kun…why is your face so…dark?" Sakuno asked a politely as possible, although asking why a person was dark wasn't a polite question in the first place.

Ryoma sighed in relief, "Oh, nothing. I was just face painting with mud." He was relieved that Ryusaki didn't see him fall head first into the pile of dirt. He would be profoundly embarrassed at this point if she ever had a glimpse of it.

"Oh," Sakuno replied, unconvinced. It was just like Ryoma to hide embarrassing things, like falling head first into the mud. It wasn't like she was that stupid to not be able to guess what happened. Sakuno chuckled at the thought of Ryoma falling into the mud. His superior image would be ruined in a matter of a second. Sakuno decided not to be so ungenerous to the prince.

And then Sakuno got on to wonder why she could think so clearly. The samurai junior was with her, after all. Until just now, she was still stuttering when she spoke to the prince. How could she even decide not to be mean to the prince? She had to generous to him, right?

She had already gotten used to Ryoma-kun being around in a matter of several hours. She smiled at herself excitedly. So her 'cool' practises did come to work?

Ryoma bit his lip as he saw the girl across to him smiling hysterically. He felt uneasy, was she laughing at him?

"What are you laughing at?" Ryoma asked.

"Oh, betsuni," said Sakuno. She couldn't tell Ryoma about her personality adjustments.

Ryoma shrugged and sat down beside Sakuno.

They both looked at the sky, where stars were shining brightly above them. The sound of leaves on the trees rustling was dauntingly pleasant. The trees were singing a quiet hymn to the surrounding serenity. Mud on the edges of the hole was falling, adding rhythm to the hymn. It was like an orchestral performance in the middle of the Seigaku Garden. And the audience were the reunited couple who finally met after ten years of each other's absence.

* * *

"So Fuji, what about our lovely party that we planned?" asked Momo, who was craving to try the food that Tomoka and Sakuno had brought in. 

"I never said I would abide to organise the party," said Fuji, who was busily trying to figure out what the two trapped souls were up to, "We have lots of time now, though. They won't be out until after a while," said Fuji.

The group sighed for themselves, trying to put up with the tensai.

"We can go to the supermarket now to get some more resources, so we can have more time to prepare an even nicer party," suggested Fuji.

"So this was all for having time to prepare a nicer party?" asked Oishi, slightly relieved that Fuji wasn't planning to murder two Seigaku graduates.

"Not really," began Fuji, "While you may need more time, I want them to suffer, too," said Fuji, "But it may turn out to be something else," added Fuji, who recalled that there were in fact two people stuck in a ditch that he dug, not just one. Two people who knew each other since junior high. Two of which one of them had a big crush on the other.

"It'll have good results no matter which way it ascended," smiled Fuji.

At this moment, Kawamura thought of something very useful, "Oh, speaking of supermarkets, I saw Fuji in one the other day when I was buying some fish," said Taka-san, "Fuji was buying a lot of fake mushrooms," Taka-san scratched his head to think of more, but Fuji interrupted.

"We're really getting somewhere, aren't we?" Fuji said, "Didn't I tell all of you earlier that I put signs all over the garden?"

* * *

Over in the branches and the bark of the trees hymning the enchanting lullaby for the serene night, crickets were tapping their feet onto the bare wood to create more rhythm to the atmosphere. Male crickets made those sounds to attract the female to come over to them. The louder, the more beautiful the sound, the more females would stride over to you. 

And so above the heads of two trapped humans in a very unusually large probably manmade ditch, were thousands of crickets coupling and mating. For those insects on the trees, it was the night for love. Adoration was looming in the air, and the two Seigaku graduates could very well feel it.

Sakuno was sitting in a crouched position, finally lost for words. They were stuck in this ditch for hours; and it was way past seven o' clock now.

What if we never came out of this ditch? Sakuno thought to herself. Then Ryoma-kun and she would die of hunger, which would be the first thing that would happen. Even if they did not die, they would have to wait for people to wander into this garden and coincidentally find them stuck here. But even if those people found them, before they realised that they were in a deep ditch, they would have fallen in as well.

Okay, let's try not to think of the hopeless side of things. We should look to the bright side, right? Sakuno thought, she looked at the stars which were shining brightly above her.

No, she thought, it's not bright enough.

Ryoma was getting tired of the silence growing around him. All he heard during these past hours was Sakuno frequently shifting so she could be more comfortable in a ditch, although this was an ugly ditch; after all, you couldn't take comfort for granted. He listened to the tunes from the trees, the leaves rattling and all. His ears are hurting from all that.

"Ryusaki?" Ryoma began, he wasn't about to allow his ears to explode, "Can we talk?" The meaning of this question that Ryoma tried to send out was different from what Sakuno received. She misunderstood the question thoroughly.

"Sure," said Sakuno, her cheeks heating up slightly as she became excited that Ryoma-kun had just asked to converse, "What do you want to talk about?" Of course, Ryoma just wanted to say something so that he could break the silence.

"Oh," Ryoma didn't expect that 'what do you want to talk about' question, "How about…" Ryoma racked his head for an answer to this question, he wasn't going to drop it here, he continued, "How about we talk about the past?" Ryoma felt proud of this idea of his. After all, they hadn't seen each other for ten years, shouldn't they revise something?

Sakuno smiled at this question. She knew that she would be the one doing the talking, because she knew a lot about what had been happening to Ryoma-kun during these years.

"Okay," Sakuno said, she started to think of where to start, "What do you want to know first?"

* * *

"We're really getting somewhere, aren't we?" Fuji said, "Didn't I tell all of you earlier that I put signs all over the garden?" 

It was like a sudden electrical current that strucked into the Seigaku graduates' minds. This would mean that if they go into the garden and figured out what the signs were, they would be able to find Echizen and Ryusaki?

"I don't mind if you go in," Fuji said.

The group of people didn't take a second glance at Fuji before they rushed into the garden.

"You have Inui with you," Fuji said to himself, "It'll be fine."

There was lots of wind today, and even though the air was very moist and warm, the wind was dry and cold. It blew past the smiling tensai and followed the former regulars into the garden.

"Does anyone have a torch of some sort?" asked Momo, who didn't really like bumping against trees, "Anything that releases light at all?"

"Can't you just follow the path?" hissed Kaidoh.

"It's very hard to walk in the dark without bumping into trees you know," said Momo, who had scratched his arm on a tree bark, "Ouch! Now I scratched myself – Ah! I dropped my chocolate bun! Oh no, where is it?"

Momo crouched down, frantically searching for his bun.

"Momo, can you at least keep up with us?" said Oishi, who was worried that people would get lost.

Kawamura had been very cautious since the beginning when he entered the garden. He had noticed something that was worthy enough to mention, "Hey, guys?" said Kawamura, "I think these things on the ground look familiar," he bent down and picked one up, "It's a…" Taka-san got broken off as he inhaled.

Inui, who was observing the scenery as Kawamura was, picked up one of those things, "Hm…I think…"

"Nya, what do we have now?" asked Eiji.

"I think…these might be the signs that Fuji was talking about…ii data," Inui took out a brand new green notebook and started to write in the dark.

"What, he used mushrooms for direction signs?" Momo said, still very disheartened that he lost his precious chocolate bun, and it was the biggest one, for heaven's sake!

Inui nodded, not that anyone saw him nod in the dark. He noticed the bendy posture of the mushroom, "These are toy mushrooms that you get from the supermarket," said Inui, "and they're bendy," Inui started to think which direction the mushroom was bended a while ago before he picked it up.

"So what if it's bendy?" asked Oishi, who was nervous about the situation.

"This means that the mushrooms point to the way that we're supposed to go," Inui put the mushroom back into the place that it was before, "And we should follow them, in this case."

* * *

Birds were leaving their nests, frightened by the sound of hysterical laughter coming from a crater just below them. The laughter continued for a long time as a voice had continued to blabber. There was a very lively conversation going on. 

Sakuno chuckled as she listened to the prince's animated stories in America. She loved the ones about his fans risking their lives to chase after him, where they tried to threaten him to propose to them or they would commit suicide.

"Really?" said Sakuno, being tempted by her repetitive giggles, "what did you do after that?"

Ryoma was waving his arms about, explaining all his awkward little situations in America. He couldn't believe that this girl, out of everybody, could make him talk like this.

"I told them I needed to get a drink," said Ryoma, "and they thought I meant beer when I said 'drink', so they took me to a bar," Ryoma watched the girl laugh, the laugh sounded like the angel's song, so sweet, so pleasant. It made him want to hear it more, so he talked more.

"…and then I ordered grape ponta in the bar, the guy was so surprised."

They were there talking for a long time now. At first, Sakuno did the talking, but it turned out in the end that Ryoma did the entertaining and Sakuno was his audience.

Ryoma leant back and exhaled, looking at the stars above in the night. If he hadn't fallen down into this ditch, he wouldn't have found somebody that he enjoyed talking to. Maybe this was fate; it was just a few days ago when he decided to come back to Japan. And he reason for that? It was partly because of his senpais, but mostly because of the image of the girl popping up in his head. The image came just in time; he went back to Japan and coincidentally met the exact girl in his head. And so according to the oldness of that deformed tennis ball, and according to the girl, they were sort of like friends ten years ago.

But this didn't really make sense. He was friends with his senpais, and he remembered all of them. If he was friends with Ryusaki, why didn't he remember her?

Flashback/ _9 years ago…_

Pok

I tried to stop thinking about her.

Pok

But she kept coming back into my head.

Pok

And ever since she gave me that ball…

Pok

It was like playing it against the wall, you hit it away, and it always came back to you.

Pok

Maybe I should stop using her tennis ball for practise.

Pok

And I think I need a bang on the head.

Pok

Anything for sudden memory loss, so I could forget her.

As the ball was flying back towards the thirteen year old Ryoma, he swung his racket down onto the ball and the ball hit the floor, it bounced back up and Ryoma caught it in his hands.

"You're not concentrating today," said Kevin, who was trying to train Ryoma.

"Kevin?" Ryoma said, determined to ask for a favour, "Can you punch me on the head?"

Kevin looked slightly surprised by the favour, "huh, why?"

"Just do it," Ryoma said.

Kevin gave a very hard punch to Ryoma on the side of the head. Ryoma toppled over and fell unconscious on the floor.

The part where Kevin hit was very near to the brain, the part where all the memory was stored. Not forgetting to mention that Ryoma's memory was very fragile. Punches near his weak memory storage would make him forget dozens of important things.

"Hey, Ryoma, are you okay?" Kevin asked. Ryoma opened his eyes slightly, and then he stood up like nothing happened.

"Of course I'm okay, now let's practise."

"So you're going to concentrate, huh?" Kevin smiled, so the punch woke Ryoma up?

"I always do," said Ryoma.

End Flashback/

Ryoma couldn't remember why he had forgotten this girl, but that didn't matter.

"Ryusaki," Ryoma began, "it's your turn to talk."

"What do you want me to talk about?" asked Sakuno. Ryoma was right, she hadn't really been talking, and she just fell into hysterical laughter the second Ryoma started to talk. It was so funny to see the arrogant tennis prince talk so animatedly.

"Talk about us," said Ryoma, "what happened when we were young, because I couldn't remember."

This was embarrassing for Sakuno. She had a very huge crush on Ryoma when she was young, if she started talking; she'll be raving about how good he was and all his matches, which would make Ryoma realise that she liked him.

But she made no afterthought, and started to talk about the day she first met the prince.

"We met on the train," she began, "and you were sitting opposite me, you were going to a sixteen and under tournament."

"I remember the tournament, I got disqualified," Ryoma said.

"Ano…hai, you got disqualified…th-that's because I gave you the wrong directions," Sakuno said and blushed. Back then, Ryoma-kun blamed her for that, and it was embarrassing.

"I thought there was a reason why I was late, so it was you," Ryoma said. It wasn't in an accusing tone, but Sakuno felt guilty.

"G-gomen," Sakuno tried to apologise.

"You don't have to apologise," Ryoma said, "It was ten years ago. You don't come back and apologise ten years after something happened," Ryoma shrugged, "And besides, you drank my ponta, right?"

Sakuno looked up, stunned at what Ryoma just said, "You remembered that?" Sakuno thought he had forgotten everything, so she could remake her character. But it looked like that Ryoma knew she was a stupid fan girl who stuttered after all.

"I just did," Ryoma shrugged again, "when you apologised, I remembered some things."

Why would an apology make him remember ponta? All right, so the image of him treating her ponta came up in his head, but why did an apology make him remember that?

"Hey," Ryoma began, "aren't you that shy cheerleader?"

Sakuno felt glass break in her body. To be referred as a shy cheerleader wasn't something to be proud of.

Ryoma, however, was feeling the opposite feeling from Sakuno. He was proud that he remembered something he wanted remembered. And then he went very deep into thought. Everything came back to life in his head. It was like it had been sleeping for years and years, and memories suddenly came jumping about again. From the time when they first met, to the time when he bravely tapped Sakuno on the leg and told her the problems of her posture for tennis…

…legs too straight, arms too bent, and shoulders too wide…and hair too long, too clumsy.

That took a lot of courage. Especially when you walked 'coolly' pass a girl and tapped her on the legs, and then said things wrong with her posture. It was embarrassing if anything got wrong. Luckily, for Ryoma he remained as 'cool' as he wanted to be.

Then came the time when he brought her out to get her rackets restrung. She tried to make a conversation with him and asked him the type and music that he liked. It wasn't his fault that he questioned the reason why she spoke so much. He was used to her being quiet, which he liked.

She ran away, and then Momo-senpai jumped out from nowhere and pushed him to run after Sakuno. On the way, he bought ponta, so he wouldn't need to speak. Ryoma was afraid that he would say the wrong things again.

After getting her rackets restrung, he asked her to come with him to the tennis courts. Then he checked her form. Ryoma had taught her about her tennis posture before and wanted to see if she had improved. But that wasn't the only reason; it was nice to be on the same court with her. It was very nice to be separated with a net. It was very agreeable to serve an underhand to her and watch her try to hit it back. And then tease her for not being able to hit it.

Well, it couldn't really be called teasing if it was only several words regarding her not to mention that he taught her before. He never taught her to trip over when you tried to hit a ball.

So afterwards, he went to her side of the net and taught her how to swing properly.

Flashback/

Ryoma's left hand held on to her waist, and his right hand held on to her right arm holding the tennis racket. He started showing her how to swing and how to move her feet so she wouldn't trip over. He was incredibly close to her, a little too close, but he could withstand it.

"This is how to swing it," said Ryoma, moving away from Sakuno, "Try and do it yourself now."

Sakuno started swinging by herself, her posture was…perfect, for that moment.

Of course, now she could say to everyone that Echizen Ryoma had taught her how to swing properly.

End flashback/

Ryoma couldn't remember what happened after he went over the net to teach Sakuno how to swing. He certainly knew that something happened, and was irritated that he couldn't remember.

The only one thing that he could be sure of at the moment was that…

"I liked her…" Ryoma mumbled to himself. Wait, did he just say that out loud?

Quickly, Ryoma covered his mouth in case any other words slip out.

Did he just say that? Did she hear him?

The answer for those rhetorical questions flew back to Ryoma almost immediately.

"Ano…Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno said, rather confused by what she thought she had heard a moment ago, "Did you say something…" Sakuno was pretty sure that she heard a phrase with something to do with the word 'like'.

"Uh…" Ryoma had a little thought, now, how could he answer this question? Why were all the questions that Ryusaki asked so challenging?

"Uh…no," Ryoma said the simplest answer that he could find.

* * *

A group of young adults had been wandering through the garden in the dark for a while now. They had been following the directions that the bendy mushrooms point to. 

"Wait," Inui said as he stopped in his tracks, he took out a small torch that he had in his pocket for the whole time. The crowd around him gasped as he switched on the torch.

"Inui! Couldn't you have taken that out earlier? Nya, we've been walking for so long, my eyes are getting tired!" Kikumaru frowned at Inui. Because Kikumaru had the best sight, he was forced be at the front so watch the way.

"This is for emergencies only," Inui said.

"Emergency? What emergency?" Oishi asked, panicked again.

"Look," Inui shone the beam of light down to the ground, it revealed muddy foot prints on the earth, "Seems like something…ii data…"

"What does this mean?" asked Kawamura.

"I think these are Echizen and Ryusaki's foot prints…" said Inui, who took out a green notebook, "Which would mean…" Inui started scribbling, "It would mean that these mushrooms actually showed the way that Echizen and Sakuno walked."

Silence erupted within the area of ten metres away from the group of young people. Crows were taking off from their trees to capture their prey, wolves were howling from the nearest mountain.

"Does that mean…" Oishi began, "Fuji planned the directions that Echizen and Ryusaki were going to go…and placed them here..?"

"Should be," said Inui, "But it could be coincidental," Inui adjusted his glasses.

"Nya, no way, something like this can't be an accident," said Kikumaru.

Horio, Katsuo, and Kachiro had been following silently at the very back of the group. They looked petrified, "Fuji the tensai…" they began in unison, "He planned the entire day for us!"

Inui nodded in reply to the three's theory.

"But," Inui added, "these mushrooms would also lead us to Echizen and Ryusaki," Inui switched off his torch, "and they should also lead us out, if Fuji didn't intend to murder all of us…that is."

* * *

"Are we going to stay here all night?" asked Sakuno. She and Ryoma-kun had been sitting in the same spot for a long time. 

"I don't know," answered Ryoma, he checked his watch to see how long they had been there.

Seven fifty eight…it's almost eight, which would mean that they had been in the ditch for almost four hours. It didn't sound very good.

And then something hit Ryoma's mind, eight o'clock, eight o' clock, where had he heard that? What was going on at eight o'clock? There was something that he had heard…

At that moment, Sakuno stood up, "My legs are numb," she said, she turned to look at the sky, and then she stood still. There was something going on in the sky that caught Sakuno's attention immediately.

"Ryoma-kun, look!" Sakuno gripped Ryoma's arm and pulled Ryoma up, "Fireworks!" Sakuno pointed at the shimmering sky, the different colours exploding at different speeds.

So that was what that's to happen at eight, Ryoma thought to himself. He glimpsed at the girl beside her, her hands were still gripped tightly onto his arm, her hazel eyes were reflecting the light emitted from the fireworks, her smile was so dazzling, so truly bright.

He shifted his gaze back at the fireworks, the colours of the rainbow flashed back at him. He couldn't blink for a second, afraid that he would miss any of the beauty. He let out a smile as bright as the sun.

They were both truly happy.

* * *

"Fireworks," said Fuji to himself, "They must be having a good time." 

The tensai was several metres away from the entrance of the Seigaku Garden. He wasn't planning to go in; he was only waiting for the group of people to come out.

He had spent yesterday and a bit of the day before planning to manipulate his friends. It was very successful and his manipulation was going as he had expected.

Those people overestimated him though. They thought that he had planned their reactions as well. But he didn't, he never planned the thoughts of his friends, he only planned their actions. But he wouldn't tell them about their overestimation, because if they thought that he was that good, they would suffer more.

The tensai smiled. All the same, his former team-mates charged into the Garden without thinking. It was pretty entertaining to watch.

He just really wanted to see what everyone would do in a situation like this one.

* * *

"You made me drop my buns, mamushi!" yelled Momo in defence of his buns. 

"You were the one who dropped it! I never even touched those ugly buns of yours!" shouted Kaidoh in rage.

"What did you just say?" Momo said loudly.

"Are you picking a fight with me?" Kaidoh glared back. They were snarling at each other as Oishi tried to stop them. Just as the two were about to make their fists in use, Kikumaru interrupted.

"Look!" said Kikumaru, pointing at a certain direction, "fireworks!"

The entire group of people turned to face the direction that Kikumaru was pointing to immediately. They gazed at the light from the sky in fantasized in thoughts. They had almost forgotten about the one hundredth anniversary of Seigaku, that there would be fireworks tonight.

"You know, I have a feeling that Echizen and Sakuno-chan are watching this together," said Momo.

"Maybe," said Inui, "And they're not far off," he said, examining another foot print that he had found.

* * *

The fireworks were beautiful, but she couldn't help it. Her eyes were getting tired and they were forcing to close up. Sakuno tried as hard as she could to keep her eyes opened, but that made her even wearier. By the next several seconds, she recalled her eye lids slowly closing over her eye ball. She relaxed her neck unintentionally, and her head nonchalantly tilted itself. Her body started to fall sideways as well, and it relaxed as something warm had caught it gently. Her body fitted effortlessly onto the radiant warmth beside her. 

Ryoma had noticed that the girl beside him was battling to stay awake. He watched as her mind finally gave up and surrendered in the battle. Her shimmering eyes of hazel were gently blanketed with a layer of skin. A smile was plastered on her face, and memories of her shining past were retold.

Ryoma watched as Sakuno's body had relaxed. She had fallen asleep. Her body gradually fell sideways. Her hair waved in the tender ambience, and then obediently floated back onto her waist. Her head landed and fitted perfectly onto his shoulders. The singing atmosphere had retreated back to its tranquillity. The last of the fireworks had gone off, and the earth was serene…

"Echizen!" sounds of grass being stepped on and sticks kicked out of the way interrupted the peaceful moment of Ryoma's, "Ryusaki!" a voice moving closer and closer to the large hole echoed itself around the garden.

Ryoma was slightly annoyed that his happiness was taken away so quickly, but soon realised that he recognised that voice. He swiftly turned his head to look up at the top of the hole.

He yelled back, "I'm here!" and started to wake Sakuno up.

If they came any closer, thought Ryoma, they would fall the ditch in as well…

"Ryusaki, wake up!" Ryoma shook Sakuno gently. He then looked up at the top of the hole, "Don't come any closer!" He yelled loudly at the trees above him, "You'll fall in the hole!"

"What hole?" Oishi asked.

"The one we're in," Ryoma yelled. The gang of people moved towards the voice they had heard not so far away. Inui turned on his torch and shined at the paths in front of them. And there stood a very large hole, so large that even if everyone fell in, there would still be space for another table.

"Don't worry, you'll be out in a moment" said Oishi, "But did you get injured? If you did, we'll have to get the first aid kit..."

* * *

"Almost time…" said Fuji, checking his watch. The fireworks were finished and Seigaku was quiet again. 

Most people had left after the fireworks. Fuji was standing alone in front of the entrance of the Garden. Some might wonder about the purposes of building this garden in the first place. The answer was simply put that the parent teacher association agreed that it was very important for the students of Seigaku to be in touch with the nature. So they built a garden for educational purposes. But because it wouldn't be natural if there weren't many trees, the school bought some trees and placed them all around. Unfortunately, too many trees were bought and placed, so the garden became like a forest. Also, the school refused to take the trees out because it would be a waste. So the Garden was abandoned and students ignored the fact that the purpose of the garden was them.

Fuji thought that since the garden was unused, it would be nice to put it in use. So he did all this.

Bits of light were appearing in the darkness in a distance from the Garden. The light was soon forming into shapes and shadows of many humans. Gradually, you could see the movement of matter. They were walking towards the entrance of the Garden.

Fuji smiled as he saw that the group of people he had sent in were returning.

"Have you found the signs?" asked Fuji to the returned group.

The people were radiating purple aura and their eyes were burning with angry passion. Their fists were clenched and their mouths were firmly closed. They inched towards Fuji, one step and another. Fuji raised both his hands and smiled. He didn't know that the people would get this angry.

"I thought you liked mushrooms…" he said awkwardly.

* * *

_7:04pm, a building in New York… _

A man in his forties sat comfortably onto a large black office chair. He sipped from his cup of coffee and examined the view of the city from his window.

It had been a day, thought the man.

He recalled the newspaper headlines yesterday morning. He felt a sudden tinge of delight when he read the lines. Echizen Ryoma was one sneaky guy, even if he could escape from the media these several days, the media would always find him.

He put his feet on the office table in front of him as he leant back and crossed his legs. Many people are on the hunt for him all over the world. That boy couldn't stay hidden for too long.

Hunting down a world classed tennis player and celebrity was a lot of fun. The man personally thanked Ryoma for running away with such a good timing. Just as he was about to get bored of his life, then –bam- Ryoma escaped. It was much of a high light to his days, really.

A continuous ring started played itself over and over again. The ring came from a telephone sitting quietly on the desk. The man picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Frank speaking," said the man. His expressions changed very rapidly as he heard what the person in the opposite line had to say.

"In Tokyo, huh?" Frank said, "Track him down. And then you know what to do."

The man cancelled the call and leant back on his chair again.

And so the most exciting part of his life started.

* * *

End of Chapter

* * *

Did you like it? Please give me a comment or a feedback. Critiques adored.

Anyway, this was another long chapter. I'm glad if you skimmed through it. Although if you did, you might have missed many little hints that I stuffed here and there.

I was writing this author's note at the end when I remembered that I forgot to include a part where bird poo dropped onto some of the former regular's heads. I got that idea when in reality, bird poo coincidentally landed on my dad's head. Which was pretty hilarious.

Anyway, I won't put that bit in since it may ruin my fic and all.

So, read and review, ne?


	5. Pretty Numbers

I thought I would never upload this. I wrote it and left it for a while now.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Ryoma did not know exactly when, but he had taken in the habit of thinking a lot for a while now. He was not the very intelligent type, he did not think about how the universe was formed. He was not the scientific type either - he had no idea how atoms worked. He engaged himself into thoughts about simple things, things that happened in his every day life.

He stared at a piece of post-it note with a phone number on it.

Last night was like romanticised reality. So much like fantasy it was dreamier than ever. It was so unlike anything that Ryoma had ever experienced, he questioned if anything of last night truly happened. Was it possible for the man ranked number one in the world to fall into a ditch with some girl who he met after ten years of absence from each other, and then feel completely happy to stay in the ditch for such a long time because the girl was there? No way, that was not part of a world classed professional like Ryoma's job. He only needed to win matches and keep his rank. He only needed to be famous and earn money, right?

Right?

One part of Ryoma's brain told him that he needed a wife one day anyway. He needed somebody if he ever broke his legs.

Nevertheless, he was not a perverted man like his father. He would not want to seem like one. Asking for a wife would make him look perverted, which was the last thing Ryoma wanted to look like.

Dialling this number would mean to sound desperate, and that would corrupt his reputation. He held a very arrogant and cool reputation. All right, he had to admit that he did look good. At least he looked rather decent as a twenty two year old man. He didn't only have the looks either, he also had the money. He was a young millionaire (US dollars, not yen) and even if the girls didn't love him for his looks, it would be his money. Marrying him would mean to marry a millionaire who millions admired and actually looked good. That could not be too bad despite his very severe problem of communication difficulty.

Since his reputation made half of his money, he could not ruin it. In the face of hating the way his manager ranted about keeping his reputation, it made him feel like screwing up in a bar and ruining his life thoroughly just to wind his manager up. No, in fact, screwing up his reputation would mean to screw up three quarters of his career, which would mean it was down to zero, game over. This meant his manager wouldn't work for him anymore.

It was funny how you had to pay to your manager in order for him to manage your career, when you couldn't fire him. Ryoma wasn't allowed to fire his manager; this was because this manager 'owned' him, even though Ryoma was the one paying him.

So should he dial the number?

Ryoma collapsed onto the pure snow white blanket sheets on his king sized bed in his suite. He held up the piece of post-it note and stared at the numbers on it.

Those were pretty numbers, he thought to himself. He recalled the process of the writing of it. It certainly took a lot of effort from Ryoma to get those numbers onto this piece of paper.

* * *

Flash back…

Ryoma was used to walking in silence, so this uncomfortable atmosphere was very easy and natural for him to be in. It was ten at night, and he was walking up an empty path. Only that girl and he were there. They were alone, two of them together.

But who would have known? An innocent trip back to Japan ended up making Ryoma escort a girl home of which he did not remember up until several hours ago. It was meant to be a very normal trip, you know, meeting up with your old friends, visiting your old school, and that sort of thing. There shouldn't be girls that had the skill to make Ryoma speak about his heroic history in the last ten years appearing and making Ryoma remember more about his past. Geez, it wasn't like Ryoma couldn't remember about his past. It's not that Ryoma didn't want to, but this wasn't part of the plan. To be honest, the plan was pretty messed up.

All right, he enjoyed the silence between them. Not because it was quiet, but because he was sharing silence with a girl named Ryusaki Sakuno, age twenty two.

He never enjoyed sharing, and that part of the personality of his was very obvious. From disliking shared victories, such as playing doubles, to disliking shared love in a bento. That was right; he did not like it when a girl made multiple bentos; one for him, and one for some other random person that he probably did not even know. He was still selfish and arrogant; he liked all the good things for himself. And he especially liked this piece of silence, if it was all for him, and he could always keep it for as long as he liked, it would be the best.

But so what if he was selfish? Every human was slightly selfish anyway.

However, today, he felt like sharing this piece of silence. Okay, he was selfish and deep down in his heart, he wanted to eat this silence and keep it to himself. But this would mean that Sakuno would stop the silence and so they were no longer sharing it. And if this happened, either he would have to answer a train of questions about his favourite type of music, or he would start talking again, thereby making the potential of wrecking his reputation high.

Ryoma's thinking had obviously wrecked the philosophy of time, because Sakuno suddenly stopped walking and turned around to wait for Ryoma. The prince walked faster to catch up to the waiting auburn haired girl, and continued walking pass the girl until sounds disturbed his absolute concentration in his thoughts.

"Ano…" that was the sound that distracted him rigorously.

Ryoma stopped and turned to look at Sakuno. He wondered why she wasn't walking. Did she sprain her ankle while he was thinking and paying no attention to the world evolving around him? He transferred his gaze to look upon her ankles. It certainly did not look like it was sprained.

All right, maybe he should not think so much, it was always very Ryoma to ask if you did not understand, right? Therefore, if he asked, he would probably get the answer of the reason to why she was not moving.

"Ryusaki," Ryoma finally opened his mouth after an hour of shutting up, "Why aren't you moving?"

Sakuno listened carefully to every sound that Ryoma-kun made, and analysed them into the language of English, putting meaning into the sentence. After she identified the meaning of the question, she couldn't help it but giggle a little. How could a world classed famous celebrity slash absolutely brilliant tennis player not know why she stopped walking? Had he forgotten the purpose and reason of being here in the first place? He was walking her home. Okay, that sounded straight forward enough. And so the ending of every walk home was always the home, right? And the only reason for a person to stop walking when they were walking home would very simply be…

"Ryoma-kun, this is my home," Sakuno pointed to an adjacent building about ten storeys high. It stood so proudly amongst the buildings near it. It was brown, and slightly auburn, very close to the colour of Sakuno's hair. Every apartment in this building had windows which stretched from the floor to the ceiling. These apartments were small apartments with very little headroom. But that never bothered Sakuno because she wasn't a giant macho woman anyway.

Wouldn't every one of the species of human wonder why a hamburger joint worker Sakuno of such could afford one of these apartments?

Well, yes, these apartments had windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, but this did not necessarily mean that the space in the home itself was very large. In fact, every single one of these apartments were about three hundred squared feet in size. And including the highly affecting truth that Sakuno rented this flat, it was very possible for her to be able to afford it.

"Oh," Ryoma stared at the building, numbed into thought. So this was where Sakuno lived. Its appearance was rather…surprising. Ryoma never thought that Sakuno would live in somewhere like this. It wasn't that he had anything against apartments with hardly enough headroom, or space for you to run. Nonetheless, he liked to tossing tennis balls up and down at home, it was like a habit for him. Thinking of the mere fact that if, he lived in somewhere similar to this, and he could not toss tennis balls at home, made Ryoma shudder. Well, you couldn't call a hotel suite 'home', not exactly.

"Well," said Sakuno, shaking Ryoma back into his senses. For the last minute, she recalled herself seeing tennis balls orbiting Ryoma's head. She needed to get her eyes checked, "I guess that's it, bye."

Ryoma watched the girl as she went. She was going, and that statement repeated in Ryoma's mind, much against his liking.

For the first time, or maybe the second time in Ryoma's life, he wished he was dreaming. That way, he could wake up at any moment and nothing would have happened. There were several circumstances where one person would truly wish that they hadn't done what they had done. It wasn't that they didn't want what they had done to be done. Only that it was very embarrassing, too embarrassing for someone with absolutely no experience in handling severe humiliation to handle.

Seriously, who wouldn't feel like jumping down a fast current river when they escorted a girl home, and while the girl took her final leave, you ran after her like a lunatic and tripped over a rock, landing right between her legs?

Let's forget the part where you ran after her. The worst part was where you landed after you tripped. And for Ryoma, he was having a bad day. He coincidentally landed between Sakuno's legs. And as if that wasn't already enough, Sakuno just stood there, not knowing what to do. She stood still at the same position until he was capable of standing himself back up.

Ouch, Ryoma swore that his spirit left him then. He was dead for that minute where he tripped and lied there. It was the worst thing Ryoma had ever done in his life, and Ryoma could never face the entire world without feeling like a perverted man again. Were he and his oyaji destined to be related?

All right, so Ryoma ran after Sakuno. He tripped, and he fell between Sakuno's legs. What more?

The thing was he didn't absorb in the humiliation just yet. After he stood up, it was as if nothing happened, but only for that moment.

Ryoma opened his mouth without thinking for the first time. He did not know why there were so many 'first times' in this trip back to Japan. The first time to meet a long lost friend after ten years of complete failure to recall that this person existed, the first time to fall down into a ditch with a member of the opposite sex and sit there for almost five hours. The first time to be manipulated completely by Fuji senpai, and the first time to fall between a girl's legs. Ryoma's oyaji would have been extremely excited to be in this situation. But no, it wasn't Nanjiroh who did the falling, it was Ryoma. Ryoma wasn't anywhere near to be perverted (or so he thought) and he didn't like this 'first time' at all.

So Ryoma opened his mouth without thinking, and he said the things that he didn't regret about. The only regret that he had was the fact that he didn't look before he leapt. That was very bad, and he swore to never do that again.

"Can I have your phone number?" Ryoma said. This would be the first and last sentence that Ryoma ever said without thinking. It would remain in Ryoma's head faithfully until the day that he died. And on that day, he would remember this sentence, and a couple of his first times.

Not that it was anything amazing to be able to perform such an abnormal trip. Ryoma wasn't proud of it.

Sakuno took out a piece of yellow post-it paper. She took out a pen and scribbled onto the paper. After she finished scribbling, she held the paper with her right hand and gently inched towards Ryoma's face.

What was she doing? Ryoma thought for the many reasons why Sakuno would come so near. Was she planning to…?

Ryoma shook his head mentally. What was he thinking? If he got any further, he would certainly blush, which was not something he would do. Ryoma watched as Sakuno came nearer, the piece of yellow notepaper still in her hand.

She stuck the piece of post-it on Ryoma's forehead.

"There you go," Sakuno said and smiled. She waved and walked into the entrance of her building of where she called home. That was the end of Ryoma's story, the traumatic method of obtaining phone numbers.

Ryoma was once again isolated in front of a deserted path situated next to a building, which Sakuno lived in. He had a piece of paper on his forehead. This piece of paper had the contact details to one certain auburn haired girl.

Tonight's reality was sunken in reverie, Ryoma decided. He didn't know if he should be happy or not. But it was a gain, over all. He did get the phone number…

End flash back…

* * *

The duration of getting this phone number was rather…eventful, and because of its eventfulness, Ryoma was afraid to dial the number.

Ryoma, being the prince, or the king of tennis should not be afraid.

The problem was that Ryoma was afraid.

What if he dialled the number and didn't know what to say when the other side picked up?

What if this was the wrong number and some random person picked the phone up?

That was it; Ryoma had been slightly suspicious on the whole event last night anyway. What about the possibility that Sakuno was ganged up with Fuji to trick him? He thought there was a problem when she gave him her number so nonchalantly.

Or maybe it was just him. He was probably the only person in the world he couldn't keep himself natural when he was giving other people his private information, such as a phone number. Especially when you gave it to girls, girls like that one, that auburn one with the big hazel eyes.

Maybe it was too hard for him. It was too hard for him to dial a number of a girl's and say some things. Things like 'are you free tonight?'

Ryoma simply couldn't say those things.

And since it was this way it was, Ryoma decided to make his final decision.

He put the piece of post-it note down and walked up to his table in the suite to retrieve his tennis racket. He also took a ball. His only tennis ball right now at this moment was the one with 'Nationals number one' written on it. And that ball was the murderer of his innocence. The very last strand of innocence that he had was killed. And then he would live with his own dirty soul forever.

Why?

Because the ball reminded him of a certain someone, and because of that unwanted reminder, Ryoma went back and took up that post-it note again.

He wasn't only saying things without thinking; he was also doing things without thinking. Who knew what he would do next? He couldn't control himself anymore.

So he picked up that note, and he also picked up that phone on the way.

He did it simply without thinking.

It was so unlike Ryoma to do this. He would usually go through a series of analyses before doing anything.

And so losing his grip on a tennis racket, furthermore dropping it onto the floor, and then walking back to the king sized bed slowly, with his brain empty, and picking up a post-it note, and then lifting up the phone was truly pathetic.

It was absolutely pathetic.

Ryoma didn't think, he picked up a phone and dialled the number. He listened as the sound of the phone ringing echoed from the phone into his head. His mind was still blank and he couldn't cogitate.

It was not until when a voice sounded itself through from the other side of the line, Ryoma finally felt like someone had smacked him and he had woken up.

"Moshi moshi, Ryusaki Sakuno speaking," the voice said.

"Uh, hello," said Ryoma. Was there anymore that he could say? What was the purpose of making this call in the first place anyway?

Ryoma sat thinking.

What was that he thought up a while ago? The thing about asking if she was free…that's it.

"Err, are you free today, because-" Ryoma stopped speaking. He didn't just stop, but he was broken of pretty violently…the way Ryoma considered it…

"Ano…" Sakuno said. Yes, it was that word again, that violent word that always did the trick to shut Ryoma up for several seconds if he was talking too much.

"Who are you?" asked Sakuno. She had been wondering who this person was. He phoned and suddenly asked if she was free, of course she wouldn't answer him without knowing who this person was.

Ryoma felt ultimately stupid. He couldn't believe that he had gotten to his main point so quickly that he forgot to tell the receiver who he was. Normally, he wouldn't get to his point so quickly. Why did he do it today?

"I am…" Ryoma wondered about his one. How should he address himself? Calling himself whatever the other person called you would be suitable. But it sounded weird to call himself Ryoma-'kun'. It just didn't sound right. And addressing self as 'Echizen' would seem like you didn't know that person. Calling himself Ryoma would be a little too close.

But he was Ryoma nonetheless; he could call himself by his first name if he wanted.

"I'm Ryoma," and so he said.

Ryoma thought he felt the temperature rise through the receiver. Was it him, or was it the phone? He wasn't sure if heat could transfer through a phone. Not in this century it could anyway.

"Ryoma-kun! Go-gomen, I didn't know that it was you!" Sakuno said in surprised. She really didn't think that Ryoma was going to call her. Okay, she gave him her phone number yesterday, but still, this was Ryoma-kun, and he truly didn't care, did he?

At least to her knowing, he wasn't supposed to be caring so much about phoning her.

And what was he asking a moment ago? Before she interrupted and…

"Oh, Ryoma-kun, you asked me if I was free today…" Sakuno began her sentence.

"You're not free right? You have the hamburgers and…" Ryoma didn't think that she would be free today. She did have to go to work, after all.

"Yeah," she said shamefully. She wished she was free…to be honest.

"You have to go to the hamburger joint today, right?"

"Ano-"

"I'll see you when your work ends," Ryoma said, "When does it usually end?"

"My shift ends at five, but-"

"Okay, at five then," Ryoma ended the call abruptly, leaving Sakuno on the other line, holding the phone with her eyes wide opened.

What was his rush? He was so in a hurry that she didn't have the chance to tell him that she didn't have work today.

Okay, she said that her shift ended at five, but that was when she went to work. She tried to tell him that…

But nevertheless, she wasn't actually free today anyway.

She didn't have work, but she had something else to do.

She didn't suggest this new plan, but it was a good plan. After all, Tezuka-buchou didn't show up yesterday, right?

Inui said he would prepare something to make sure that he would show up today.

And the only thing left undone was to know where to find Ryoma in the afternoon.

This job was left to the senpai-tachi.

* * *

Sunny mornings, what could be worse but to waste it on trying to find a certain someone to track down?

All right, it was he himself who phoned Frank, it was his fault that he got so excited when he spotted that tennis player in a sushi shop.

But he honestly didn't think that Frank would tell him to track him down and "you know what to do."

He was on vacation for heaven's sake.

And why would Frank be so excited about this little project here anyway? That tennis player was just another slightly good looking athlete, like how you had Sharapova in that perfume commercial and everything.

All right, but you had to admit that Ryoma was one sneaky athlete. He was pretty confident in his escape to be even capable of hiding in the first place. More over, he was pretty desperate to leave his stand. What did he leave for? And what was his past like?

Ryoma's past would really make a good story. Writing about all his old friends, and maybe even girlfriends, and spreading rumours.

That would be much fun.

But still,he really wouldn't want to do it now, despite the excitement in this mission.

And besides all of that, maybehe should go off stand too.He hadthought thathe should eat now.

It washis vacation thathe paid for, after all.

* * *

"Inui, are you sure you know where you are going?" said Oishi.

Yes, they were on a plan again. Only that this time Fuji wasn't allowed to take part in the planning.

"According to my NEW data," Inui began; he purposely projected the word 'new'. He had been observing Echizen for a long time yesterday, and had collected bunches of new scribbles in his notebook, "He isn't out of his hotel suite yet."

The other former regulars sighed as they heard what Inui said. And they thought they were heading somewhere…

"Nya, then why do you ask us to follow you?" Eiji said, frowning at Inui.

Inui's glasses, still reflective as ever, glimmered as Inui tried to adjust them.

"Kikumaru," Inui said, "count the people in here."

Eiji, slightly confused started counting.

"Oishi, Inui, Taka, nya, Momo, Kaidoh, Fuji…and me, seven people."

"Yes, Kikumaru," Inui began again, "and you realise that there are two people missing, right?"

Kawamura turned away from watching Momo and Kaidoh fight in a distance, "Speaking of that, where is Tezuka?"

"That's exactly why you are all following me," said Inui.

"Nya, you should have told me earlier," Said Eiji, "I was thinking that we were finding o-chibi."

"Don't worry," Fuji suddenly sounded, "we will all be present today," Fuji shot a glance at Inui, who started rummaging through his bag.

"Fuji, you're going to like this," Inui took out a large bottle of liquid, "This is my new concoction that I am told to make. It is exceptionally successful when it comes to posing threats."

"I can't wait to try it," Fuji said, enlarging his smile into a grin, "and I bet Tezuka can't resist it either."

Fuji and Inui turned their backs to the rest of the group and snickered darkly.

"Nya, they're so evil, it's frightening," said Eiji. A tiny bead of sweat rolled down his neck.

"Yeah," Kawamura said in agreement.

Kaidoh and Momo were still arguing in the sidelines. Everybody had decided to ignore them. Even Oishi sighed and walked away.

"Those two won't stop," Oishi said.

"Oishi hoi, you don't really expect them to stop anyway, nya?" Eiji said, pointing a finger at the two.

"Well," Oishi said, knowing that he had failed his mission to stop the two from fighting, "no, not really."

And after Oishi shrugged at Eiji, Fuji and Inui turned back and stopped their evil snickering.

"All right, just follow me," said Inui.

The whole team followed Inui.

* * *

A very warm breeze of wind blew silently at Ryoma's face, causing his hair to sway slightly. The hair previously covering his ears flew up frivolously, and Ryoma touched his head lightly to stop his hair from flying.

He had left his suite. That was a very shocking fact, since he really had nothing to do.

He was wandering aimlessly around the territory near his hotel, wondering what to do next.

What time was it?

Ryoma glanced at his Rolex watch.

It was almost twelve. And that would be a great excuse for him to eat lunch.

It would be a flawless excuse for him to visit the hamburger joint.

He should not want to visit that place so much, especially when he was going there again at five.

But anyway, he was hungry. So what more could he ask for but a couple of hamburgers to fill up a hungry samurai's stomach?

That's it; he wasn't going there to see Ryusaki.

He was going there to eat hamburgers.

This was a pretty obvious point, but Ryoma had failed to see anything special in the hamburger joint besides Ryusaki.

But then again, he realised the wonderful existence of hamburgers just in the nick of time.

He was going to eat hamburgers, and that was final.

* * *

Her flat was a mess. Sakuno and mess wasn't a very good combination, and because of that, it usually didn't happen. But today, the flat was a mess, and Sakuno didn't know what to do. She didn't usually do a lot of tidying up, that was because she didn't need to. She had the habit of keeping everything neat, and that avoided the tidying up that became the consequence.

Because she never needed to tidy up, she didn't know how to.

The chairs were out of place, and there were several plates left on the table from yesterday morning. The cushions weren't on the chairs and books covering the floor. The television was slightly slanted and looked like it wanted to fall over. Nothing was right, and Sakuno wasn't used to this.

It was just because she came home late yesterday.

She didn't usually come home late. That way, she would have time to wash those plates on the table and perhaps arrange some cushions, which would decrease the amount of work in the next morning.

Was lateness a crime, a sin that came with a punishment that you had to pay the morning after you committed the crime?

So where should she start?

And she would have to hurry. There would be guest tonight.

Sakuno didn't know how ten people were supposed to fit into a diminutive space like the one in this flat. She didn't even know why it was suggested that her flat was _the_ location in the first place.

But the decision was made. And Sakuno decided that her senpai-tachi knew best.

Normally they knew best.

But most of the time, they weren't very normal. So just to assure herself, she told herself that they knew best.

Ten people could in fact fit into this flat. She had Inui to prove this.

Sakuno gently pushed the television back so it wasn't half hanging off the table, and picked up her plates. She brought them into the kitchen and started pouring warm water into the sink.

How many years had it been since all of them were together? Sakuno thought as she scrubbed soap onto a plate. Yesterday was supposed to be a reunion, but because Fuji decided otherwise, it turned out to be something else.

Falling into a ditch wasn't so bad, but it could have been avoided. If she were strong enough to pull Ryoma-kun up then, the time could have been saved. But then they would have to worry about finding their way out again, possibly falling back into that hole.

She shouldn't have stopped pulling suddenly just to catch her breath. If she held on for another moment, they wouldn't have fallen into the ditch.

Sakuno sighed. That was yesterday, right now, she might as well hurry up and clean the flat.

And then wonders started intruding her mind of thought. Several days ago, she decided that she was over her childhood puppy love and that Ryoma-kun would never come back.

She only made that decision because she didn't know that Ryoma-kun would come back. But just as she decided, he flew back to Japan and they met in that Hamburger place.

Those fattening hamburgers, Sakuno couldn't actually stand them, but that's not the point.

If the reason why she got over Ryoma-kun was because she thought she would never see him again, but now he was right here. There was no reason to get over him anymore. The reason had just disappeared overnight.

Getting over Ryoma-kun was unreasonable now.

So this meant she could lust for the prince again. She could want him, out of the corner of her eye…

Sakuno smiled to herself at the thought of wanting the prince. Where did that come from?

If she really had gotten over the prince for the last few days, she wouldn't be considering loving him again.

Loving him?

Sakuno blushed at that thought. Why was she so embarrassed? She was alone at home. She could drool all that she wanted.

Was it that serious?

It had been ten years, after all, ten years of staring at the television screen frequently, watching the boy sweat and win. His smirk remained the same over the years. It was still that irritating smirk that infuriated opponents, a lot. And there was that famous catchphrase that he would say after every single match.

"Mada mada dane," she would hear from the flickering screens and the speakers of the television.

She liked all of it, because it was Ryoma-kun who did the smirking, it was he who said the catchphrase.

Nobody said it better than he did, and no other phrase that was meant to be mildly offensive had lead to her loving as much as the one Ryoma-kun used.

Okay, so at first, she did get rather offended when Ryoma said 'mada mada dane'. Not particularly to her, but he said he within her capability of hearing.

But maybe it was because he left. He left, and she missed the catchphrase. She missed seeing that annoying smirk in real life, and not through a screen. She missed him, a lot.

Missing him so much actually made her evolve. She knew better but to swoon over memories all day. She finished her studies, and got a job. She rented her own flat and lived independently.

She was independent, and that was something she took pride in.

Being capable of coping on her own did not mean that she stopped thinking of the prince totally. In fact, she relied on watching his matches to cheer her up on some days. Watching him smirk over seas somewhere on television wasn't as good as watching it in a real match that she was actually there.

She didn't need to go 'there' though. She didn't need to dream of going to his matches anymore.

He was here, back in Japan. That smirk was at most several kilometres away, and she doubted that it would even be that far.

He was near, he was somewhere near. He was coming to her flat tonight, everyone was. It was a great reunion.

She felt slightly like an outsider, because she didn't belong in the Seigaku boy's tennis team ten years ago. But her senpai-tachi treated her like an old friend. It was nice to have so many friends that were so happy together.

She looked forward to the gathering tonight.

Sakuno realised that the soap she was scrubbing the plate with had overflowed the sink and was dripping onto her clothes and the floor.

Sakuno gasped at the sight of the mess she had caused, the clean up was going to take longer than she thought.

* * *

"Are we there yet? Nya, I want to see O-chibi," Eiji scowled.

"We're almost there," said Fuji. He turned back to smile at Eiji, who looked irritated back at Fuji.

"Where are we going to find Tezuka anyway," asked Eiji, "Nya, he keeps hanging me up on the phone."

"Eiji, it's because you're too annoying on the phone," joked Momo, "He doesn't hang anyone up but you."

"Nya, I heard you got hung up by him the other day," snarled Eiji, "Mo-Mo!"

"Calm down, you two," said Oishi, "Inui, how long is it before we get to wherever you are trying to take us?"

Inui stopped walking and turned back at the team. His glasses gleamed in correspondence to the wind.

"We're here," he said, pointing to a place with a very large sign above. The team looked up to read the sign.

"Geez, couldn't it have been somewhere else, I've just been here yesterday," said Momo.

The sign on top of the place read 'Hamburgers'. It wasn't a very creative name, but it might as well be that way. Their hamburgers were fairly famous.

Momo continued, "Sakuno-chan works here you know?"

"Yea, I know," said Fuji, "That's why it's this place we chose."

The seven men entered the hamburger joint. The time for the gathering was coming close, and one more person was yet left to be found.

* * *

Even the prince himself didn't know why, but every time he came out of his home, or suite, within the next five minutes, he would find himself holding a can of ponta. It had been more than five minutes since he left his suite, and so he was holding a can of ponta.

Ryoma took a sip and looked around himself. If he turned the corner in front of him, he would stumble upon the hamburger joint that he wanted to go to.

He looked at his watch again. It was half past twelve and the time to eat lunch. It made perfect sense to go around the corner now.

Ryoma shrugged and started walking. He turned on the corner and entered the joint.

There were many people there. Ryoma slapped himself for not considering the amount of people in the joint during lunch. It was a famous joint, after all, with all its history.

He looked around for seats. The place was crowded; maybe he should get a takeaway and eat back at the suite-

The image of That Girl came into his head.

That's right, the reason of him being here at this time of the day, besides eating lunch, was to see her.

No matter how much Ryoma denied it.

The prince scanned around at the servers at the counters. Even for his super animated vision, he had to squint through the crowds to take a good look at every one of the people working there.

None of them consist of waist length auburn hair or large hazel eyes.

Could she be cleaning…somewhere? She had to be here, she worked here. Where else could she be on a day like this?

Ryoma started to worry. He thought that she would be at the hamburger joint today; she did say that she would…

* * *

Flash back…

"You have to go to the hamburger joint today, right?"

"Ano-"

"I'll see you when your work ends," Ryoma said, "When does it usually end?"

"My shift ends at five, but-"

End flash back…

* * *

Ryoma was suddenly alerted. Did she say that she had work today? She didn't say anything like that. Did that mean-

"O-chibi!" said a voice coming from behind Ryoma. Ryoma spun around. Before he could capture the image of the person running towards him, he was attacked on the neck and the shoulders, made close to suffocation.

Ryoma didn't need to capture the image of the person. He knew who this was from experience.

"Kikumaru-" Ryoma was squeezed to the point that words got stuck in his throat.

Eiji finally let go and Ryoma was panting, trying to regain normality to his neck and his breathing system.

"O-chibi, you're so late nya!" said Eiji. He pointed towards their tables and motioned for Ryoma to go over there. Ryoma started walked, relieved that his senpai had let go and that he had found seats. Eiji followed as Ryoma walked.

"Hey Echizen," said Momo, biting on his burger. Wrappers were everywhere, and Oishi was trying to make the mess less messy.

The others gave Ryoma a smile and a nod, and then Ryoma sat down.

"Inui, we all trusted your data from the beginning," said Fuji.

"Nya, we all knew that it would be accurate."

Ryoma stared at the men around the table and pulled out a confused face. Maybe there was some plan again, Ryoma suspected that.

Oishi turned towards Ryoma and smiled, "There's someone that you might like to see." He motioned at the bathrooms, "he is excused to the toilet for the while, but when he comes back, we'll all be here."

Oishi made his point so obvious that Ryoma immediately knew who he was talking about. He didn't give any indication of a response, and the rest of the team appeared happy.

The bathroom door flung open. A black shoe stepped out from the door.

The hamburger joint was an indoor place to meet with your friends and eat. Winds didn't usually blow in. But today, a cold wind blew into the joint and went pass Ryoma's face. The wind flew towards the black shoe from the bathroom door and blew at the owner of the shoe. His greenish brown hair gently swayed with the wind, and he stepped out.

The team watched as the man with the greenish brown hair stepped towards them. Their faces formed into smiles, respectfully greeting their buchou.

Ryoma sat staring. So there several metres in front of him was his buchou, whom he once sincerely respected and considered as a rival. That man was once the pillar of Seigaku; he had wanted Ryoma to take after him.

But of course, Ryoma left to America before he could become captain.

Ryoma stood up. His eyes were made readable, and they give the message that he had said hello. Tezuka also replied with a glance. This glance welcomed Ryoma back.

Ryoma didn't know what he should feel like. He hadn't seen his buchou for a long time. When he was a kid, he really recognised Tezuka for his skills. And because of that, he wanted to beat him. It was very rare for Ryoma to acknowledge someone. But this person was different. He had beaten Ryoma flat when he was overflowing with confidence. It was a very great fall that Ryoma experienced.

"Tezuka! Nya you haven't seen O-chibi for so long!" Eiji stated, "You should at least say hi!" Eiji said, crossing his arms.

Fuji smiled at Eiji, "Sometimes," and Fuji began, "maybe there isn't a need for words."

Eiji frowned at Fuji, confused at the meaning of his words. Oishi smiled at Eiji and decoded the message for him, "Fuji means that they have already said hello."

"When? How come I didn't hear them, nya?" Eiji asked.

The other regulars smiled at Eiji's naivety -this man had never changed.

Tezuka sat down on the table of the hamburger joint. It didn't really suit him to be in somewhere like this, but for his old team member's sake, and also because he was threatened, he came. Inui was still holding a large bottle of juice behind him.

Everyone except Ryoma nodded and stood up. Momo stuffed in the last of the burgers into his already full mouth. Ryoma silently followed. He didn't know where they were taking him, but with buchou here, it should be fine.

* * *

It had been a long time since he last started to wander around, not knowing where to go. Where in Japan was he supposed to be able to find Ryoma? He needed to take pictures, okay. But he needed the person to be here in order to take any at all.

The man sighed. How could Frank set an assignment like this during his vacation? He was still fretting over his boss. He was such an arrogant man without skill. Okay, if a person had a reason for his arrogance, it would be acceptable. But Frank, he didn't have a reason. He just got raised as an editor because he was friends with the big boss. Not very close friends, but close enough to say good things about the big boss' nice hair and shiny shoes.

That's right; he was only there because of his stupid big mouth. He didn't know how to follow famous celebrities, write amazing articles, or anything on that line. The little jobs were all left to the little people to do, while he sat around sipping tea, or coffee.

So, where was Ryoma?

The man looked around him. His geography skills weren't amazing, but he could read a map. And according to his map, Ryoma's hotel should be around here.

He turned the corner and came in front of a hamburger joint. He wasn't hungry, so he continued moving until something caught his eye.

Something _very_ interesting caught his eye.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it.

Tell me if there were any mistakes. I've tried very hard to proof-read this.

The next chapter won't be up in a while. ;)


	6. Gone Insane

Yay. I finally gathered up the courage to open the draft file of this chapter. Heh, I've neglected it for months now. -counts- Three months? (Well, that's not too long...) This chapter is slightly shorter than the others, I think.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis. But Frank and his slave are my own creations.

Enjoy!

* * *

A pair of hands clutched the last velvet cushion and gently placed it neatly on a chair. Eyes scanned around the flat, making sure that everything looked all right. 

Sakuno sighed and collapsed onto the chair. Finally, the cleaning up was done.

She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. Time was almost up, and the doorbell should be ringing soon.

It was a sunny day, and it was still early. The rays from the sun were shining in from the window adjacent to Sakuno's table. Sakuno squinted at the light and wondered what it would be like when at sunset and after.

Night reminded Sakuno of yesterday, when the prince of all people walked her home. It was very strange to say this, but she felt special. Maybe it was one of those childhood dreams again, to be escorted home by your prince on a white horse. The sun would be setting and you would be leaning against the prince's back, gently holding onto the prince's waist so you would not fall, all that romantic aspiration of a young girl.

However, last night was different. For one thing, Sakuno was not a young little girl anymore, and they certainly were not riding on a horse. And Sakuno was, well, not exactly close to leaning on Ryoma's back.

Nevertheless, she had never imagined being escorted home by the top tennis player in the world (until just now, that would be). The days she spent watching him play on television, admiring those people who really could be there to watch him. Then yesterday, he escorted her home.

It was like a fictional story coming to life; like seeing Harry Potter flying around on a broom above the roofs of Seigaku. But it was probably even more impossible than that… seriously, Ryoma-kun escorted her.

Sakuno fell deep into thought about last night. There was the very peculiar part when she was deciding to leave. Then Ryoma-kun probably ran after her, or perhaps walked briskly. He fell over, landing near her shoes. It was somewhere there.

At that time, maybe it was supposed to be embarrassing, but she did not move. It was a surprising image, seeing the prince fall right beneath her. It made her feel a tick of superiority at that moment.

The prince usually carried an arrogant grace with him; his infamous cockiness combined with his smirk was his international image to others. Usually, a person with such arrogance wouldn't be very popular, but Ryoma was different. He carried his trademark traits just right, and girls from all over the world liked him anyway.

At the moment though, seeing the man who'd usually have a king's aura around him sprawled on the ground in such an awkward way made Sakuno release a quiet chuckle.

The image was comical all right.

Then, she felt a great gush of happiness flood her head. Her cheeks felt warm, and her mind was racing itself in circles. Ryoma-kun had asked her for her phone number. She analysed the several ways to give him her number, and ended up with the post-it note. She did not know why she stuck it on his forehead, but if she had heard correctly in one of those philosophy lessons back in high school, sticking things on a person's head meant that you owned that person.

The thought of Ryoma being a property of Sakuno was not bad at all. Sakuno smiled at herself for even thinking of that thought. She would not mind if it were the other way round either .

Sakuno's train of thought was broken when she heard the sound of the doorbell. She sat up and looked at the door. There were noises of people outside, and she smiled. The senpai-tachi were finally here. So was Ryoma-kun.

--

"I can't believe it! This place doesn't have an elevator!" the sweating Momo was in a very big crisis. He was tired, and his engine was overheating. He had to rest.

Momo collapsed midway on the stairs, panting for breath, "Can't you guys walk slower?"

Oishi turned back to help Momo, "We're almost there," he said reassuringly.

"You said the same thing for the last three times I collapsed," Momo reminded Oishi accusingly.

"Nya, Momo, you should lose some weight," Eiji said, pretending to be wise.

"I'm not even fat," Momo said sarcastically. He knew his size very well, but he's not going to give in now.

"Fshuuu, you're such a nuisance."

"What did you say, Mamushi?" Momo glared at Kaidoh.

The rest of the group sighed and continued moving.

"Two more floors," said Kawamura.

"It's not a wonder about Sakuno-chan's figure," added Fuji. The other men exchanged knowing glances. Ryoma gave Fuji a short scowl, which Fuji returned with a dazzling smile, "Na, Echizen?" Fuji said.

They reached the door of Sakuno's. The team ushered Ryoma to the front and motioned for him to ring the bell. Ryoma pulled out a protesting face, but backed away when he saw a shimmer in Inui's glasses.

He slowly reached his right hand up and rang the doorbell. It was a white button with a pink border. It looked very… Sakuno. It was funny how girls would spend time decorating a doorbell. Ryoma had attempted to understand the psychological matters of girls, but failed.

He pressed the doorbell and waited. The group of men fell into an ear paining silence, until a sound of feet shuffling in what was imagined to be a small corridor was heard. And then a gap was finally seen from the door. It opened, and a girl with long auburn hair revealed herself in front of the team.

"Konichiwa, senpai-tachi, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno said, addressing Ryoma separately.

The group made their greeting and stepped into the flat. As Ryoma walked passed Sakuno, his arm brushed gently passed hers, and Sakuno turned to look at Ryoma, who moved nonchalantly like he hadn't noticed. They took off their shoes and made themselves at home without being asked.

Ryoma stood near the door, bending down to place his shoes to face the right direction (1). His graceful black hair, a little wavy here and there, covered his forehead in a way that still allowed you to see his eyes.

Sakuno's heart skipped a beat when the prince stood up, and his gaze met hers. And suddenly, she felt nervous.

But why now? Why didn't she feel like this yesterday or the day before?

Giving Sakuno a small nod, Ryoma walked passed her. Sakuno stood on spot, paralysed. Half of her wanted a little more interaction between herself and Ryoma, but the other half was too nervous to do anything.

Gosh, this nerve was making her tense.

Sakuno stood still for a moment after Ryoma walked passed her, and she stood there until interruption finally caught on her.

Eiji came and asked for drinks.

"Ne, Sakuno-chan, do you have… coke nya?" Eiji asked, slightly embarrassed for the beverage he suggested.

It was as if life came back to Sakuno's body, and she could move again. Had the prince just affected her nervous system?

"H-hai, Eiji-senpai, it's in the fridge," Sakuno said, slightly flustered from her own behaviour.

--

Eiji came back with a can of coke. He sat down beside Ryoma, and gave him a very wide grin.

"Nya, Ochibi, how is it going?" Eiji asked as if the question had just came out of his mouth.

Sakuno came back from retrieving drinks of that exact second and saved Ryoma. She handed him a can of grape ponta, and looked away, still embarrassed.

Ryoma scowled at his senpai and clicked opened his ponta. The fresh smell of grape always delighted him. He took a long sip at the ponta and looked back at his senpai.

"Hn," Ryoma made the sound to feed the silence with something other than nothing. After Eiji had asked his question, all the other young people sitting around him shifted their gaze, which naturally fell upon Ryoma.

Ryoma did not know that delaying an answer to a question would bring him so much attention. How was it going, exactly?

Ryoma shook his head gently and gave up. He was not going to come up with a brilliant answer that could allow him to avoid any other difficult questions.

"Fine," Ryoma said. It came out a little too stiff, maybe. A little less natural than what Ryoma would have wanted it to be. The rest of the people surrounding Ryoma nodded, unsurprised, knowing just how brilliant their kouhai was at talking.

At this moment, Fuji had but decided to interrupt Ryoma's state of peace. His smile became wider. He had come up with a good idea to torture the tennis professional. It was only mental torture. It was nothing, really.

"So, Echizen," Fuji began, "Did you have fun with Sakuno-chan last night?"

The rest of the former regulars immediately became alert. Something interesting was about to happen, and they all looked at Fuji. Little smirks appeared on some of their faces, and snorts echoed around the walls.

Well, maybe Fuji's sadistic ideas weren't all that bad.

"Oh yeah," Momo said, fingering a fruit on Sakuno's fruit bowl, "You two spent the night together." Momo's smile turned into a grin, "what did you do then?"

A blush formed on Sakuno's face. She looked at her lap and shook her head, "We didn't do anything," she said quietly, "really," she added to assure her senpais.

Eiji decided to join in. He nudged Ryoma, "Nya, I don't believe that," Eiji shook his head, "Come on, Ochibi, spill."

Ryoma rolled his eyes. He looked around the room; everyone was staring at him with the exception of Sakuno, who was finding her own thumbs extremely interesting to look at. She was twiddling them nervously, and if you looked with detail, her face was soaked crimson…

"…Ochibi is asking his girlfriend for help!" Eiji interrupted, "he's looking at his girlfriend, nya!" Eiji pointed toward Ryoma's gaze.

Tension around the room built up after Eiji finished his statement. Everyone was waiting for Ryoma's answer.

Momo decided to break the silence. He dropped the fruit he stole from Sakuno's fruit bowl and laughed hysterically, "I was joking when I asked you if you did anything!" Momo dropped to the floor and laughed harder, "did that silence mean you actually did something?" Momo tried to sit himself back up, "Ah… it's so good to be young!"

The other regulars stared at Momo in disbelief. Had they just heard something strange?

"Echizen, don't tell me you did… _that_…" Oishi said. His eyes widened as the other people in the room strained to hear an answer. Ryoma opened his mouth to defend himself, but Oishi had stopped him, "What!" Oishi squeaked, thinking that no answer from Ryoma meant yes, "You _did_ use protection… those things, didn't you?"

Oishi's face was turning purple, "This can cause a lot of trouble you know? Both of you," Oishi pointed from Sakuno to Ryoma, "can catch diseases like…like…"

Oishi was interrupted by Momo, who erupted in laughter as he realised the seriousness of the situation, "What? I was joking just now as well," Momo looked at Ryoma, "Oh my God, did you really…?"

"Sakuno-chan did you?" said Fuji, budging in to the situation, also wanting to enjoy some of the fun of teasing the younger ones.

Sakuno shook her head, denying everything that was said, "No, I-"

"We didn't do anything, okay?" Ryoma snapped in. He sighed in relief after he had said it. His old senpais were causing so much mayhem. Unneeded mayhem, that was even worse. They were the ones who were freaking themselves out just now anyway. Ryoma never even answered their questions.

Oishi paused for a moment, absorbing the information that Ryoma just gave, "What…? You didn't do what?"

"We didn't do whatever you thought we did," Ryoma said flatly, and then took a sip from his grape ponta.

The entire room was once again flooded with sighs, and people were relieved.

The playful atmosphere, there for what seemed like forever and always, finally went away in exchange for a different one, a more wistful one. The ten young adults all sat quietly thinking within themselves, and occasionally speaking out their thoughts.

It all began when Oishi started talking about how happy his life was now. He was having a great time helping people out, and instinctively worrying about them whenever they needed help.

"You really haven't changed, Oishi," Fuji said, his smile gradually turning friendlier.

Oishi smiled back, "Change?" he said, "No, there's lots of that around." He looked around at everyone in the room. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"You know, I had always wanted to talk like this for a long time," said Momo, who had stopped fingering the fruit on the fruit bowl, "Just the nine- no, ten of us," Momo said, and smiled at Sakuno. Sakuno smiled back, grateful that she was included.

"Talk like how?" Eiji asked, trying to catch up with the flow of the conversation.

"Talk like we're no longer joking, in a good way," answered Oishi.

The rest of the people nodded, indicating their presence of the participation in this conversation. They went on for a while, talking about how their lives had really been since they left high school and went onto different paths. Nobody really thought that they would gather like this again one day, and talk about themselves.

But _of course_ nobody thought so, because who would know? Who would have known how the fate of either of the ten of them _could_ have been like?

Maybe it was just luck, they often thought. Maybe luck allowed them to come together again after so many years.

"But I still find it incredible," said Oishi again, "we've all grown up, even Eiji has."

"Saa ne," said Fuji and paused, "and maybe Tezuka has something to say." Fuji smiled at the buchou.

Tezuka looked at the other nine people in the room, who stared at him, waiting for him to say something. Fuji had always been the type to notice small things about people and catch on them.

Tezuka cleared his throat, "I'm glad you're all happy," he began, "but I would like to acknowledge one of us here tonight." The captain looked at Ryoma, who was surprised for a moment, but soon calmed down and gave a smile so slight that nobody really noticed.

"This person never failed us," Tezuka continued, "and even if he did, he always made up for it. He had recently achieved something, something that we entrusted our hope in." Tezuka paused. Eyes shifted from their buchou to Ryoma, who had a small smile on his face, a happy smile.

"And I would like to congratulate him. Congratulations, Echizen."

Several moments passed, and the room was submerged in applause. Good-natured smiles went around the room, contagious.

Ryoma smiled pensively; he felt really glad that he had such team-mates before. It wasn't something that he'd ever admit, but he liked to think so every now and then.

"You know," Oishi said, being the first to speak again. He was the only person who openly showed how much he valued this meeting, "I've always thought that as long as you want something enough, you can get it."

"Fshuu," hissed Kaidoh, "no way."

"No, it isn't," continued Oishi, "None of us here -- besides Echizen -- really became who they wanted to be when they were younger, did they?"

"I didn't become a vet, nya," said Eiji, who shrugged.

"Which is why Echizen really amazes me," Fuji added.

"Yeah, he does," said Oishi, "and I learned a lesson in that, too."

Inui, who had been scribbling in his new green notebook while the previous conversations lasted, finally slammed it shut, "There is a ninety percent chance that Oishi is going to talk about his 12th theory. That would be on page 173 in Oishi's novel called 'Oishi's Social Theories for the Troubled', 2nd edition."

"Nya, Inui, you've actually read that book?"

"No," said Inui, "it's all in here," and he picked up another green notebook to flash around the room.

"All right," said Oishi, who cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed by his unpopular novel that no one knew about, "so what I was trying to say was-"

"Be happy with what you have and cherish the things important to you," Inui cut in.

"Hey, that was my line," said Oishi, who sighed and gave up, "All right, go ahead."

"I'm finished," said Inui.

"But the 12th theory was much longer than that!"

"Oishi, you wrote two pages about something that could be concluded in one sentence," Eiji said, "and that was just the draft that you gave me to read."

"I was just trying to give examples!" Oishi said, trying to defend his book. The others laughed at the situation. It continued until Fuji had another idea…

"Hey," Fuji began, "how about we play a game?"

"What now?" Momo asked.

Fuji's sadistic smile once again returned to his face, "I was just thinking, since Echizen has been abroad for so long, it'd be nice if we could ask him some questions."

"What do we have to do?" asked Taka.

"Each of us asks a question," smiled Fuji, "and Echizen has to answer it honestly."

Ryoma protested, "but why is it only me who's being asked?"

"Because you're the one who's left for the longest time," said everyone. Most of the people agreed that Fuji's idea was a good idea.

"I'll start first," said Fuji. Others nodded in approval and Fuji shot Sakuno a really quick glance, as if he was helping her.

"So Echizen," Fuji began. Ryoma just looked at Fuji impassively. He had to deal with so many questions from reporters before, this shouldn't kill him yet, "You've achieved your goal."

Ryoma sighed inwardly, he could guess what the question was going to be now.

Not this question again, he thought, completely unaware of Fuji's dangerous smile.

Ryoma responded with a lazy nod.

"What are you going to chase after next?"

Everyone in the room redirected their sight from Fuji to Ryoma, now waiting for the samurai's answer.

Ryoma opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Wait, why couldn't he say anything? Wasn't this the same old question that everybody asked?

Wasn't it?

"_What are you going to chase after next?"_

One moment there, Ryoma halted; there was something to the wording of this question…

.:Flashback:.

"_What do you decide to do after you became number one in the world?"_

"_Do you decide to start a relationship with your loved one?"_

.:End Flashback:.

Chasing was definitely different from doing. When you chased something, you had to work hard for it, which was why you chased. Whereas doing something didn't always involve difficulty. These two questions were different.

Ryoma scratched his head, "I don't know." It was the most truthful answer that he could find for himself.

Fuji smiled at the answer, "what about your loved one?"

Eyes widening in surprise, Ryoma's mouth parted slightly in response to the question. Did Fuji read his mind?

"What loved one?" Ryoma said, sounding not much like he was questioning back.

"Ochibi, don't be so mean to Sakuno-chan!" Eiji suddenly interrupted.

"What?" said Ryoma, who abruptly snapped out of his senses and half-yelled, "what are you talking about? I don't like her!"

…Which was quite a big lie.

"Yes you do," Eiji pointed out, "it's obvious, nya! You've liked her ever since middle school," Eiji nodded as if he had pointed out something ingenious.

"I don't," Ryoma denied a little too quickly, "I _can't_ remember her from back then."

What?

Everyone stared at Ryoma as though he were an alien. He didn't remember whom?

Great, just great. He didn't think before he spoke, again. This wasn't the first time, actually.

Ryoma tensed up, he _did_ remember Sakuno from middle school. At least he did now, but he couldn't take back what he said.

Sakuno sat up, hurt. She _knew_ she shouldn't have expected too much. She should have known that such a famous person with an enormous ego would never like someone like her. She really hated her own wishful thinking. She hated it sincerely now. She always ended up disappointing herself. How _could_ she think that she still liked someone like him? How _could_ she allow her feelings to linger for so long?

She felt like such an idiot.

How _could_ he?

"Senpai-tachi, can you please stop teasing about Ryuzaki and I? There is nothing between us, okay? I don't… I don't like-"

Stammering, Ryoma couldn't get himself to say his statement again.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you drunk, nya?"

"I don't-"

"Enough!" Sakuno stood up, her voice shaking, "You don't have to say it again," sighing, "Ryoma-kun."

Waiting for a response, Sakuno looked around the room, glancing at each person one at a time, and lastly, Ryoma. Nobody said anything. The room was silent. Everybody gawped at Sakuno, surprised from her outburst.

She felt incredibly stupid for thinking so much about someone that didn't know her, didn't remember her, and didn't like her.

Not even as a friend, perhaps.

Sakuno continued, "I _know_ you're an incredibly famous worldly ranked tennis player. I _know_ your skill is excellent, I _know_ you're perfect," Sakuno paused to breathe, "I know I'll _never_ be compatible with you."

Silence flooded the room once again. Nobody spoke, and even sounds of breathing seemed to have disappeared.

"Sakuno-chan, I don't think Echizen meant-"

"I _know_, okay?" Sakuno said shakily, her fists clenched. Her head was facing downwards, causing her fringe to cover her face. Maybe a tear rolled down her enraged cheeks, but nobody could be quite sure. She stood like that for a moment, and until she was less shaky, she looked back up at Ryoma straight in the eye, "but you don't _have_ to rub it in," she said coldly.

With that, Sakuno spun around, her long auburn hair flying.

Ryoma, who had finally returned to his senses, sat on the same spot, wide-eyed. He didn't know what to do. Nobody had ever said something like this to him. What did he do wrong? What should he do? He had no clue on how to deal with this.

Sakuno grabbed her keys. Ryoma sat still, utterly confused.

"Nya! Sakuno-chan!"

Sakuno grabbed her bag.

"Don't go yet!"

Sakuno grabbed opened the door.

"You're leaving us alone in the apartment?"

"When you're all leaving, just remember to close the door," Sakuno said with her back turned away from the group of people.

"No, Sakuno-chan, hold on! I really don't think Echizen was--"

The door slammed shut.

"--quite sane just now…"

Silence ensued after the outburst. Ryoma's teammates had tried to hold Sakuno back, but Sakuno left too quickly. The apartment then became so painfully quiet that clock's ticking seemed to be alive.

But someone's always bound to break the silence.

"ECHIZEN, WHAT THE _HELL_ WAS _WRONG_ WITH YOU?" yelled Momo, seeming even more enraged than Sakuno was.

Ryoma, still shocked from the event, made no response.

"EVEN THE GOD OF… GOD OF _PEOPLE_ WON'T FORGIVE YOU, YOU MORON!"

"Ochibi, you were out of your mind, weren't-"

"What are you _DOING_, sitting there like an IDIOT? GO CHASE AFTER HER!" Momo stood up and moved quickly to Echizen. It was as if he had been playing sports frequently for the last few years, he was moving really quickly.

Momo stood Ryoma up and shooed him out of the door, "_GO_! _Don't_ stand there. _RUN_ AFTER HER!"

Ryoma's senses suddenly came back to him again, and his body auto piloted itself away. He ran down the staircase. The old team of Seigaku shouted their blessings after Ryoma.

"Good luck!"

"Remember to apologise!"

"Don't say the wrong things again!"

"Watch where you're going, and what you're saying! That's the first theory!"

"61.3 percent chance that Ryuzaki will forgive you."

And Ryoma, suddenly feeling desperate to be honest to Ryuzaki for once and for all, ran as quickly as he could.

--

End

--

(1) When entering a home, the Japanese have to take off their shoes. After you do so, you have to place it so that it faces the door (or that the heel is directly in contact with the 'step', which most Japanese homes usually have.)

* * *

Whew. I hope this didn't disappoint you. It didn't actually take me three months to write. (Heh.) Yeah, as I said earlier, I neglected it for three months, and then last week, I decided to do something about it.

Tell me if you think something's ooc in there. I've BETA-ed for characterisation and grammar. Hopefully this can't be too bad... -prays-

The fluff should come in the next chapter (Very very hopefully. I'll try to stay hopeful). (It was meant to be in this chapter but the plans have changed.)

Thanks so much for reading! I'm truly grateful. n.n


	7. Expectations

This'll probably be my last update before school starts again. T.T It's starting a week earlier this year, nya...

Anyhow, I've achieved my goal of updating this fic twice this summer! n.n.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Prince of Tennis. Yet again...

Enjoy this chapter! (The dividers aren't working, by the way. 3)

--

She was angry.

She felt stupid, she felt angry.

Did Ryoma have to rub it in like that? She got the hint the first time. He hadn't the need to repeat it.

Like a large cold wind had just blew piercingly passed Sakuno's face, thousands of sharp ice daggers all accelerating in the air in her direction, she felt an awful pain in her body.

The weatherman said that it was going to be warm today. Yet, no matter how much Sakuno tried to tell herself that it was warm, her body felt cold. The world seemed to be whirling around her, and her vision blurred gradually. Small droplets of what should be tears created a trail before her eyes; her hair was flying behind her caused by the air resistance made from her running.

Yes, she was running, and fast.

She was running away from reality. The reality was that Ryoma and she never had any simple relation at all. Not even friendship, she stressed. She suddenly felt so stupid. Ryoma probably didn't mean what he said, but even if he did, why did she react like that? She should have understood that the world guaranteed her nothing, and so it wasn't guaranteed that Ryoma would like her in any simple way.

The frequency of the movement in Sakuno's legs slowed down, and gradually to the point where she was walking. Her posture was slumped, and she stared at her shoes.

A part of her for that previous moment, before she ran out of the apartment, made her think that she deserved Ryoma's recognition. A part of her wanted recognition, and made herself believe that she had it. She was so convinced that Ryoma liked her, maybe as a friend, maybe more. She was believing in her own lies, and it made her feel like she was flying for a while. And because of that, she fell right from the top of the sky. She hit the bare cold ground, and it hurted a lot.

She was depressed. Oh-so depressed about her own behaviour earlier, and full of regrets. She regretted a lot on the way she got angry on her own. This wasn't her first time in doing this, and she should have known better.

Where was all her self-control?

Sakuno felt that she had wasted so much of her time trying to gain something that she would never get. She had spent so much time worrying about herself, both physically and mentally. She had worked so hard to get rid of the old her, the shy one who stuttered more than often. And she was so near succeeding, she was almost there.

And what had been motivating her to do all of this?

All the time, she had been walking on a ground that she believed to be stable. She thought it was there, and she thought she could depend on it. She built all her confidence on it, and a large part of her life as well, she didn't see anything coming.

And then by the time she realised that the ground wasn't actually there, what had been the foundation that had been holding her life together for the past?

She had thought that it was Ryoma that motivated her to do things, but now as she thought about it, if Ryoma wasn't there to support her, really, then what had been holding her up?

Was her own base really herself?

Through all the depression, a small light seemed to have broken through, and Sakuno suddenly felt happier. She didn't know she had been independent for so long now. Speaking of that, she had been living alone for quite a while, too. She had her own job and her own apartment… that counted as successful, didn't it? The job wasn't anything that was going to turn her into a millionaire, but that wasn't important to her. The important part was that she managed by herself, and she was content, really.

That's right, she had been content, then why had she been chasing after something that she didn't need?

The corner of Sakuno's lips turned up into a smile. She could be happy without the tennis star…

Then the thought hit her. She ran out of her home, she ran out all of a sudden without an explanation. She probably looked like a sensitive idiot.

Even if she was impressed by her own independence, she _still_ looked like a sensitive idiot.

Sakuno could now expect the senpai-tachi and Ryoma to be having fun in her apartment, laughing their heads off about her stupidity.

Oh, god… she embarrassed herself again.

Sakuno lifted one arm and smoothed her hair out from all the flying. She sighed at herself, not knowing what to do next. She couldn't possibly go back now… She had a… non-existent ego of her own.

Sakuno stopped walking and found a cosy brick wall of a building to lean on. It was late in the evening now and there were few people on the streets. She just stared into space to use up some time. Maybe she should just wait until it was late enough, when the senpai-tachi, and most of all, Ryoma had left. Then her non-existent ego could calm.

_Click_.

… What sound was that?

Sakuno's body suddenly tensed in reaction, she stood up on her legs again and she spun around to look at her surroundings. There wasn't anyone on the streets now.

_Click_.

Spinning around again, she looked, conscious about the mysterious sound.

_Click_.

Eyes shifted to the side, hoping slightly that there'd be someone in the corner of her eye… if there wasn't anybody, then where could the sound come from?

_Click_.

Sakuno was in panic now. She twisted around in full speed this time, only to get her legs tangled beneath her, and she gasped.

_Click_.

Footsteps sounded from in front. Sakuno knew there was somebody… but…

_Click_.

The rates of these footsteps were a little fast, weren't they?

Sakuno let out a small shriek and landed on the bare concrete ground. One hand topped the other, forming a base in which her chin landed on.

The street lamps were shining onto her back, and the setting all around her. Her shadow was almost beneath her, and the rest of the ground was the colour of the yellowish light from the street lamps…

… Except there was another shadow, and it was gradually getting closer to her.

Sakuno closed her eyes, hoping that it wasn't somebody frightening. She lifted her upper-body up with her arms, but stayed in that stance, still recovering from her fall. And then her legs shifted and she sat on her knees, eyes closed, body crouched in, away from the world.

She wanted to walk away from the mysterious person who was running up to her. She didn't know who it was, but that didn't matter because he or she wasn't up to anything good, scaring her like that.

Her body wouldn't allow her to walk away, her knees were scratched and in pain. So she just gave up. She gave up trying to become strong, and she gave up trying to do so many things that she couldn't do all the time. And at this moment, it included standing up and walking away.

The shadow stopped in front of her. Sakuno was sure it stayed there for a while, because she was on her knees for that while, too. Silence blew in from the wind, and the night just seemed to get colder. Without opening her eyes and still waiting for something to happen, Sakuno placed her hands over her arm, attempting to warm herself.

Why was this stranger taking so long to say something, or do something? She didn't want to look at the stranger in case it would scar her for life, but she might just be able to take one small peek with half an eye opened…

Sakuno did exactly that, except before she could adjust her sight properly, the stranger spoke first.

"Geez," the voice said quietly. This word was meant to have that annoyingly provoking tone in it, but strangely, it had a hint of concern… "You really can't be left on the streets on your own, can you?" And he held out a hand to pull her up.

… Sakuno's eyes snapped opened immediately, and she stared at the figure before her.

Oh no… this was the last person that she had wanted to see at this moment. Why did it have to be Ryoma? What happened to the stranger she was expecting?

Sakuno stood up hurriedly and ignored the helping hand, "Sorry!" she managed to utter.

Goodness, she must have looked stupid just now. Sakuno wondered what Ryoma would have been thinking when she was fixed on the ground with her eyes closed like that.

And then Ryuzaki Sakuno felt like such a joke. She felt like such an awful joke, and that must have been what she had looked like.

She turned around and began walking away, the odd anger from a moment ago suddenly rising up from her chest. How could she face Ryoma? How could he face her? They were two independent people now, not that they were ever anything different, but at least Sakuno knew better.

As she made her first step away from Ryoma, she wondered where she was going to be going next. She didn't know, really. She could only think of walking away now, and nothing else.

Well, at least it was going on fine. She didn't become nervous in front of the prince just now, she didn't stumble over herself, and she knew that there was no need to.

It was going fine, that was right.

And that was until she felt something make contact with her wrist. Surprise shot into her from this sudden contact. A hand gripped her wrist…

… And it jerked her body back to where it was, but only on her feet this time…

Before she knew it, her head hit the figure's chest lightly, and she stood still, eyes widening in shock. The grip on her wrist loosened, but she couldn't move. She could feel the man's chest inflating and deflating by her, it wasn't good, not in Sakuno's dictionary now.

A pair of arms wrapped around her back, and Sakuno couldn't move again, stunned by the sudden movement. Her heart rate increased as she realised what was happening. She felt her cheeks flaring, and she didn't know what to do.

Wasn't she meant to be over Ryoma for good now? Where did her all her philosophies from a moment ago go?

No, she wasn't going to let herself do this again, she wasn't going to—

Sakuno inwardly protested, and tried to push away from Ryoma, but her body wasn't moving. She tried again, but realised that the arms around her had locked her in position, and she stared up at the person in front of her, expecting him to have a foreboding expression on his face.

But no, it was nothing near menacing, in fact, it was an expression that Sakuno had never seen from Ryoma.

Why did it look so anxious? It only cooled down her urge to pull away from him. And she stood, all the less irritated.

She sighed. No, she wasn't going to let it go now, "Ryoma-kun," she said quietly with some assertion in her voice, "Let go of me." Without looking at the prince this time, in case his expression would soften her again, she attempted to pull away.

She was expecting the arms to still be securely wrapped around her. She expected her attempt to free herself to fail.

But no, her expectations were once again exceeded. The moment she tried to pull away from the anxious figure before her, she used too much power and almost fell backwards. And then she just looked at Ryoma.

Usually, when people exceeded their own expectations, they would be happy, feeling smug of what they had done. But Sakuno didn't feel even a hint of joy that she had pulled away so easily. She should be happy, except her mind always failed what she wanted.

She wanted to get over Ryoma for goodness' sake.

A small part of Sakuno's mind contradicted Sakuno's apparent beliefs, however. Yes, she was angry at Ryoma. Yes, she didn't want to see him and wanted him to go away. Yes, it's all true.

But…

… couldn't he just be a little more persistent?

Sakuno felt strange. She was the one who asked to be let go of, and now she's also the one hoping that Ryoma would be more persistent.

Feelings had always been complicated, and now, Sakuno was even failing to understand her own.

Even without Sakuno herself noticing, tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes again. When Sakuno noticed, she tried to stop, but she couldn't. She didn't know why she was crying this time. Just a moment ago, she was crying and for that, she had a reason. She was angry and slightly depressed, the mixture of the two moved her to tears, and it was perfectly all right.

But now, she just had no idea why she was crying, in the midst of figuring it out, she realised that her legs were numbed from the strange coldness of what should be a warm night.

And then before she could do anything else, Ryoma took a step toward her and bent down.

"It's bleeding," he said, "why didn't you say so?" His voice changed from its previous concern to very concerned and now, with a hint of frustration too. He fished his hand through his trouser pockets, took out a scrunched up tissue, and began dabbing Sakuno's knees with it.

Not knowing where the tissue had come from, Sakuno looked at her knees and winced at the pain when the tissue made contact with the bruise.

There was indeed a lot of blood coming out… so that was why she was crying.

Out of Sakuno's pure politeness, "Ryoma-kun, you don't have to—"

"Betsuni."

And then it seemed like forever, until a logical thought could finally process through Sakuno's mind. The silence was going to make her shudder any moment now, and she might as well just…

… Without any more restraint, Sakuno couldn't but ask, "Ryoma-kun, do you hate me?" She said in a quiet voice filled with remorse.

Ryoma looked up from his task and hesitated for a moment, "Of course not," he said, "why?"

"Mou… because I was rude and I ran out…"

Ryoma smirked and finished off. He stood up, and the small smirk continued to hang onto his lips.

They were less than a foot away from each other, and since Sakuno's mind had long gone astray, she decided to wait for something to happen instead of do something herself. She hoped for a response from Ryoma, which she got.

"No," Ryoma said, reducing his playful smirk to a smaller smile, "You were right."

And she got it happily.

"I shouldn't have said so much," he added.

Sakuno beamed a happy beam at Ryoma, happy that it was rather a happy ending now, and that she didn't need to spend time trying to get over the amazing tennis prince.

It was just too hard to get over him. How could she ever? Every word that came out of his mouth just affected her so much. He wasn't an unstable foundation to build upon, after all, and she had apparently built a lot of herself around him.

And now, she wouldn't regret it.

From a distance, the disturbing sound came again. Or so maybe the couple had only just noticed it. Who would know, maybe it had been clicking away for a while now.

_Click_.

Ryoma jumped in surprise.

_Click_.

He looked around. He knew what this sound was. He'd heard it before.

_Click_.

Loads before.

_Click_.

Sakuno looked around when she realised that the sound was here again, "Not this sound again," she muttered. This was the sound that caused her to trip in the first place, thanks to it, now her legs were painfully bruised.

_Click_.

It could have been just fine.

_Click_.

Ryoma heard Sakuno mutter and said, "Ryuzaki, how long have you been hearing this sound?" He sounded slight hurried.

_Click_.

Sakuno stared at Ryoma. Should she answer him? The real answer was slightly embarrassing, actually. Maybe she could just reduce it… "Since I ran out here," she said, which wasn't exactly a lie.

_Click_.

Ryoma cursed, "We have to go, quick." He grabbed her wrist again and pulled Sakuno away from the horrifying clicking sound.

Sakuno, feeling very reluctant to be dragged like this, tried to release herself again. Ryoma was always persistent when she didn't want him to be. He didn't let go.

"Ryoma-kun, where are we going? And what's that sound?" She asked in the midst of catching up with the Grand Slam tennis player.

"Camera," Ryoma said, "A _reporter's_ camera."

"What?"

Sakuno had almost forgotten that Ryoma was rich and famous. Yes, she had always referred to him as someone worldly ranked and someone who'd achieved the Grand Slam. But it was just so uncanny to think that this person was beside her holding her wrist and running. She just crossed out his status all this time.

And it wasn't long until Sakuno was woken from her trance and her body bumped against Ryoma's when he made a sudden stop. She immediately backed away, fighting herself not to blush, and sneaked a glance at the prince, who was nonchalant as ever.

The grip on her wrist loosened and the hand slowly released. Sakuno looked around only to realise that she was by her apartment block again. Ryoma was already leaving.

But he turned back, "Sorry about…" he paused for a moment as his gaze met Sakuno's, who was apparently still adjusting to the new surroundings, "… you know."

Sakuno looked into Ryoma's eyes, she wasn't feeling as stupid as she did before now, but wasn't going to forgive Ryoma so easily, just yet.

"Ryoma-kun," she began quietly, "You have to say it." And she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Ryoma was bewildered of being challenged "Say?"

"Why you're sorry," Sakuno prompted.

"I'm sorry, because…" he stood and thought for a moment, "because I said I didn't like you."

Sakuno slowly uncrossed her arms; again, things have exceeded her expectations. She gazed at Ryoma's eyes, which gazed back at hers with glints of integrity.

"The truth is," Ryoma continued slowly, "I do," and a faint pink colour, only visible if you squint, spread across his face.

And then this time, as her expectations were surpassed again, she didn't feel disappointed. Yes, it was just usual that if your expectations were exceeded, you'd feel happy.

And Sakuno noted that she probably wasn't very normal a while ago.

She felt her face warm up. The night wasn't cold anymore.

Ryoma began walking away, until Sakuno took one step forward and halted him, "Ryoma-kun."

Honesty really invited honesty, and Sakuno felt that Ryoma was telling the truth. She felt the need to, too.

"The truth is," she began, and inhaled lightly, twiddling her thumbs, "for a long time now, I do, too."

A small smirk appeared on Ryoma's face. This wasn't the stereotypical Ryoma type smirk. It wasn't cocky, it was a rare harmless one.

Sakuno sighed at herself. So it was irksomely difficult to get over someone like Ryoma, especially when he had that kind of smirk on his face.

"How long?" Ryoma said, challenging with his smirk widening.

"Find out," Sakuno said, challenging back.

Ryoma shot her a light-hearted glare and turned around, "See you on the paper tomorrow." And he left, just like that.

And then it got to Sakuno. Ryoma was a famous tennis player, and he couldn't stay in Japan forever, when was he going to leave?

Sakuno felt like a thousand small pins were in her body. What did Ryoma mean by the paper?

She sighed and climbed up the stairs of the apartment block. She didn't get a lot of sleep that night.

--

Inside a small taxi, a man sat smugly, spreading himself across the seats. He gazed at his camera with satisfaction and smiled.

Now I'm _definitely_ going to be promoted, he thought to himself.

--

End of chapter 7.

--

Well, see, I tried my best with the fluff-o-meter, but it just can't go any higher. T.T

This story is gradually getting somewhere. Probably one more chapter and an epilogue to go. n.n That is, if I don't manage to drag it longer, which I don't want to.

I hoped you liked it! Thanks for reading!


	8. Because I'll wait

Like I said... -shot- Yeah, it's year 2007! Thanks for reading this fanfic up til' now! Yes, the one year anniversary of this story has passed a month or so ago... I swear I'll finish this er, soon.

Yes, Happy Valentine's Day! Like I promised myself, I shall update!

I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint... it's the final proper chapter, guys, eight down, one epilogue left!

Enjoy!

--

**Because I'll wait**

--

Sakuno let out a yawn as she gently spread the butter on the toast. It was a lousy morning and she felt so because she didn't get much sleep the night before, for many reasons. It seemed so stupid now that she just forgave the prince so quickly, but it's all okay.

She agreed that she got angry rather quickly, and then forgave Ryoma rather quickly as well, but now, she just didn't know what to think. Maybe she was right, maybe she was not. But debating anymore about this would just lead to an explosion in her brain, so she gave up-- having to feel simply terrible in a morning like this.

But speaking of that, she wondered what Ryoma really meant when he mentioned about the paper. Before Sakuno could contemplate more about this issue, loud ringing sounds made her jump from her spot and drop her butter knife.

The telephone was jumping about on the coffee table. A frown furrowed on Sakuno's eyebrows-- who was calling this early in the morning?

"Hello?" she said as se picked up the receiver.

"OH! MY! GOD! SAKUNO HOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN THIS!?" A loud, shrill voice rang through the other side of the line and Sakuno had to keep a safe distance between the receiver and her ear.

"T-Tomo-chan, don't shout!" Sakuno said.

"How can I be calm? Oh my—don't tell me you haven't seen it yet. Don't tell me you haven't—"

"Seen what, Tomo-chan?"

"TODAY'S PAPER, DUH! How can I be calm? After what I saw just now, I swear people are going to go on strike! You _do_ know how many fans of Ryoma-sama there are out there, right? You do know that!"

"Uh, um, what…?" Sakuno said, still very confused by her best friend's anxiety over the phone.

"Just. Read. The. Paper.," Tomoka said, word by word.

The frown on Sakuno's face deepened; confused, she opened her door to collect the paper which was delivered to her everyday.

"What about it?" Sakuno said, going back to the phone without a single glance at the headlines.

"READ IT!"

Still confused, Sakuno made a quick look at the front page, her breath was cut short, and her eyes widened with a gasp. With the next second, she was holding the paper with both hands, dropping the phone on the way, leaving her best friend yelling into the receiver…

_Oh no. _

_Oh no, oh no, oh no, this is NOT happening. Ryoma didn't mean headlines when he said the clicking sounds were from reporters' cameras. He did not mean… he did not say—_

--

"_See you on the paper tomorrow"_

--

_Crap._

With another intake of breath, Sakuno read what was written in the article; beside it was a large clear picture of Ryoma locking his arms around her the night before…

_Crap, crap, crap, I'm going to be killed!_

And then, there was an abrupt sound of a violent and desperate knock on the door … the door bell rang subsequently.

--

There it was, there it came again. The deafening sound that flooded Ryoma ears, vibrating and never letting go once its been processed within Ryoma's brain. It rang and it kept on ringing. If the prince didn't tear all his hair out by the end of the day, it'd be a miracle.

Sounds of banging came from the other side of his large suite door. Ryoma could just about guess how many people there really were outside, less than 10 metres away. He wished he had gotten himself a pair of earplugs before returning to his suite last night. It could block the phone's fearfully continuous ringing and the frighteningly unbearable banging of the door.

Another horrendous moment passed and the atmosphere was completely insane.

It's seven-thirty in the morning, for goodness' sake. Ryoma hadn't even had enough sleep, and there's everybody else in the world, waking up at five in the morning to grab the crap out from him.

Yeah, they wanted juicy information and things that would look very appealing on the headline.

Ryoma hadn't read the papers today, yet. He hadn't even watched the news, but any random person could guess by now what kind of head line the news took today.

Of course, then, Ryoma of all people would know. The reporters had been shouting questions through the door all morning. Obviously, ignorance meant 'no comment', but nobody took that kind of answer seriously anymore.

Ryoma just wondered how the other main character of the headline was going to react. She didn't really seem to understand what he meant by 'headlines' last night, but it should be obvious to her by now, the media and all.

The chaos continued, and the screeching, high-pitched sound of the phone ringing got on Ryoma's nerves (like it had for the last hour or so, but this time, it crossed his line), so he stood up swiftly and pressed the receiver to his ear.

"What is it?" he said bluntly, re-wording all the curses in his head into something milder, in case he gave some more for reporters to write about. He could distinctly imagine the news saying 'Echizen Ryoma, vulgar language over the phone!' or something on the same lines.

"RYOMA!" bellowed a man's voice through the other end of the line in English, "What the hell were you thinking?"

Okay, this was not good. For once in Ryoma's life, he wished it was a reporter he was talking to.

"Ryoma, are you there?" said the voice unnecessarily loudly, "What have you gotten yourself into? Didn't I talk to you about your image before? You're going to break many girls' hearts if you do this!"

The voice continued on, and Ryoma could only hear small snippets from the lecture.

"… please, if you're going on holiday, tell me or…"

"… at least cancel your matches first…"

"… my grandfather once said that the…"

"… I've sent several men to come to your suite…"

"… the tickets have been arranged so your flight…"

… And then suddenly, Ryoma snapped out of his reverie. He had caught several sentences in his manager's five minute long speech…

"What? What flight? What the…" he said, breaking his previous mute status.

"I said… oh god, Ryoma, were you even listening? Do you know how much work I have to do? I don't have time to deal with all your mess as well as all my other clients' messes. Please, please, _please_ listen to me when I'm talking to you as this is a very rare occasion," the man cleared his throat with an arrogant grace, "I said, I've sent the men to come and get you at your hotel suite, and I've booked you your flight to France for the French Open coming up. It's nine o' clock tonight.

"There's going to be a personal trainer waiting for you there as you've obviously been slacking off for the past week or more, or however long you've disappeared for. So, the men should be there by this afternoon_. Kiss your holiday good bye now_ because you'd be too busy later on to do it."

The madman hung up the phone and Ryoma just stood, speechless.

For a minute or so, he stood still, trying to catch up with what was happening, and the way the world was running quicker than usual, leaving his unmoved self behind.

_Wait for me. _

He had no more wishes at the moment. The only thing in his head was...

"I better do this really quickly… somehow…" The prince grabbed something small and white, cramming it into his pocket. His head jerked up and he thought of an easier path that would lead him quickly out of the hotel.

_Two o' clock_, he thought as he glanced at his watch, sprinting up the steps in the suite. He flung open the door connecting the floor above to the upper levels of his suite, and whizzed pass the reporters who were smart enough to try the upper floor. There weren't enough of them to stop Ryoma, however. Oh no, not the great Echizen Ryoma who had something important to do.

--

Fogged up with many worries, Sakuno crept to the front door and peaked through the hole to see who it was outside. Letting out a sigh of relief, she opened the door.

"Tomo-chan, you scared me thinking that you were—"

"There's no time to waste! Come out before anyone arrives!" Tomoka said in a very persistent tone. She grabbed her best friend's arm and quickly pulled her, running as fast as her feet could carry her.

"To…Tomo-chan!"

Tomoka ignored her friend's protest for the moment and continued running, dragging Sakuno along, who was at the peak of falling over. Her hair, untied, flew all over the place, and Sakuno hardly had time to gasp for breath, trying to catch up with her athletic friend.

They kept running for a while, until Tomoka finally came to a halt, leaving the flustered Sakuno panting in despair.

"Tomo-chan, what are…" so tired that she couldn't continue her sentence, Tomoka pulled her gently into a door which was already opened the moment the two girls arrived.

The entire team had once again gathered, this time, at Tomoka's place which she kindly lent out to be Sakuno's temporary shelter.

"Welcome, Sakuno-chan!" one of the senpai-tachi said. Sakuno could barely lift her head up to look, having done too much exercise in the period spread out in two days.

When she finally recovered, she looked up at the senpai-tachi, Tomoka, and the ichinen-trio (who weren't ichinen anymore, but you know). Everybody was waiting for Sakuno.

"I…" Sakuno couldn't explain herself. What the hell was she thinking when she went out there last night? What sort of explanation could she offer?

A confession-like incident did happen, but Sakuno couldn't really be sure when Ryoma said "I do too", which was ambiguous anyway. Sure, she did fall for this famous tennis player with all the ego and pride that he needed, but that didn't mean… it couldn't really mean much to him, could it? An ordinary girl like her… couldn't possibly…

It was all too much like a fairytale. Sakuno couldn't relate herself to a princess.

"Ne, ne, Sakuno-chan, so what is it between you and Echizen?" Momo started asking the flustered girl. The other senpai-tachi nodded in agreement while nudging each other. It was a good question to start with; they urged Sakuno for an answer, their gazes all falling upon the girl.

"I… I honestly don't know…" Sakuno said with all sincerity, knowing that she wasn't a good liar, and there was no point in trying it with the senpai-tachi anyway. Tomoka, her best friend since middle school would catch her dishonesty straight away, too.

Mischievous grins spread across many people's faces, and they nudged each other again in response to Sakuno's response.

"Don't worry, we have it all covered," Momo started again.

"Yeah, we'll definitely support you, so go, nya!"

Tezuka stood up as the area quietened down. He took out a white envelope and placed it gently on Sakuno's hand in which she held out.

"Don't let your guard down," he said, "Become our pillar's most reliable, one and only, support!"

Not completely understanding Tezuka-buchou's words, Sakuno, puzzled, unsealed the envelope, and read it.

_Narita airport, backdoor next to ladies bathroom across check-in counter A. Before 8:30pm. _

_Ryoma. E. _

Gazing at the handwritten note, which had a very distinct style that carves itself into your head, Sakuno felt an urge to leave the place she was in. She felt pensive at the use of '_Ryoma. E_', which was the first recognition she had for someone as unforgettable, as astonishing as Ryoma. But even so, she had to get moving. She glanced at the time, realising that if she started moving that, she would make it by 8:30pm, she waved goodbye to the senpai-tachi who had helped her out so much, and left like wind.

--

It all happened too quickly. Just as Ryoma swiftly entrusted the white envelope to Tezuka-buchou, who had coincidentally and luckily happened to bump into Ryoma when he was dashing his way to Sakuno's apartment, he remembered that something had tugged onto him after Tezuka left, and then he couldn't remember anything from there onwards.

Now as he slowly sat up, he observed his surroundings and verified that his manager was indeed, a very capable man. This felt more like a kidnapping case rather than a tennis star going to France to play in the French Open, all the glory.

He was in a car, a large car with him at the very back seat, two men on either side of him, and a driver at the front. The men should have noticed that he was awake now, and Ryoma was rather surprised that they paid no attention to that whatsoever (or just, you know, ignored him).

"Ne," he said decidedly, in a calm voice, "how did you know where I was?" Ryoma quite clearly remembered his manager telling him over the phone that he was going to send men to the suite and not to a random path on the street on the way to Sakuno's home.

"We followed you from the hotel," one of the men said.

Another turned his head away from the window to face Ryoma, "You looked like you had important things to do, so we let you finish it first." The man smiled a little.

"A-ah," Ryoma managed a reply, "Did I pass out?"

"We didn't intend for you to."

"You seemed to have undergone a little bit of pressure; normally, you wouldn't have passed out from that kind of weak hit near the neck."

Pursing his lips together a little while trying to ignore the uneasy feeling at the back of his neck, Ryoma twitched slightly at the strange choice of men his manager had. Surely, they were capable of completing their task of kidnapping him to the airport and sending him to France, but otherwise… maybe he could have hired people who could actually control their strength.

He was already arriving at the airport when he started wondering whether or not Sakuno had received his little letter. Either way, he was going to have to sneak out of the grasp of the strange duo holding him firmly. (Or trio if you count the driver who hadn't spoken.)

He just needed to… do the timing well. When all three men were occupied, he could…

--

Why did the train have to stop now, of all times? Sakuno's face crumpled in despair as she clutched onto the last remnants of Ryoma—the letter. The current situation caused memories to arouse from the back of her head.

A smile crept onto her lips, despite the position she was in. This was the same as the first time she went to see the boy off to a foreign country. Although this time, she probably wouldn't arrive later than 8:30, it still felt so special that she was to get stuck in the train now. She allowed the memories to engulf her then and there for a moment…

--

While the three men were checking in, Ryoma quietly slipped away. Thinking that he had succeeded, he went off in a slow jog towards the place he chose. He knew that place due to the number of times he had slipped away in airports. He knew that most of the time, there were little doors near toilets, and the one in Narita Airport was no exception. In fact, it's even more convenient as the door didn't lead to a store room or anything of the like, but an actual hallway that seems to lead outside—an emergency door, as it was labelled.

In the midst of Ryoma's proud jog-away, a voice called after him that made him feel the shiver on his back, "Ryoma, where're you going?" It was one of the kidnappers his managers hired.

"Toilet, I'll be quick!"

"I'll follow behind you!" Ryoma sighed at the man's reply; the manager had obviously warned these guys quite a bit. They knew quite a bit about his escapes.

"No, you need to check in!" Ryoma pointed at the woman at the counter who was calling the man.

_The timing was too good, check-in lady, thanks._

He quickly exited through the backdoor.

--

Sakuno breathed a sigh of relief as she panted from her hurrying. She glanced at her watch; it was 8. The sky was long dark. She entered the airport and made her best dash with all the energy that she had left.

_Narita airport, backdoor next to ladies bathroom across check-in counter A. Before 8:30pm. _

She wasn't late.

--

Leaning against the wall, Ryoma stared blindly at the ceiling, and then at the door to the quiet hallway he was in. The place was well-lit; it was obviously just another fire escape passage.

Did she receive the letter? He thought quietly to himself. He couldn't deny the little bit of disappointment surging through him when the thought that she really wasn't going to appear got to him. After all, he had prepared quite a bit for this, and thought a lot about it too.

A moment later, he could feel his palm sweating.

He didn't put the fact that he had never done this before into consideration. It had always been the other way round, not like this.

Anytime now…

--

Stopping in front of the door that Ryoma E. was probably referring to in the letter, Sakuno took a deep breath.

The prince was probably less than 5 metres away; the only solid thing separating them now was the door and the walls.

Suddenly, Sakuno pondered on the reason of why she was asked to come here in the first place. Couldn't she have seen Ryoma off outside? Why here?

All the queries seemed to point to the place behind the backdoor of the airport. It was a fire escape route, Sakuno thought to herself. Ryoma seemed to be able to provide her some answers.

Without thinking any further, she reached out to push open the door.

--

The slight twitch on his right eye couldn't be held back as he heard the sound of the door opening. A surprised figure burst out of the door, almost tripping over as she walked in. Ryoma smirked at the sight a little before attempting to reach out to stop her from falling, but she was already standing firm.

"You're late," Ryoma only replied, not hiding the fact that he was impressed that she held herself up so well. A smile crept onto Sakuno's lips as she stood up properly again and bowed. Ryoma continued, "You're hair's still too long."

It didn't take Sakuno much time to figure out that Ryoma was trying to imitate what he said ten years ago, also at the airport. He failed with his bad memory, however.

Not that she minded.

"Sorry for making you wait! The train suddenly stopped, and it didn't move for about 10 minutes! I—"

The flushed girl's words came to a halt when Ryoma placed one finger on her lips. Sakuno gazed up at the prince, all the questions she had in her mind were now concentrated in her eyes.

He knew what she meant.

It was now or never, Ryoma thought, and he didn't know when he could next return. His dream hadn't yet burned out, and the flame was still there.

Scratching his head, showing a little bit on unease, "Uhh… the truth is…" his eyes were looking everywhere except at Sakuno now. He swore he would have exploded if he did. He would never show that, "Uhhh…"

Screw that.

As though a source of energy had suddenly struck him, he stepped forward and pulled Sakuno towards himself, placing one hand on the small of her back, and the other encircling around her shoulders. He had to admit that he was never really the one for words, and this time, this part of his trait was as evident as ever.

The gap between them got smaller and smaller, until they were so close that they could practically feel the other person's skin, but not quite. Heart beats were everywhere, and for Ryoma, this was completely different to what he had experienced in the past, where he was a victim and was probably made unconscious before anything else happened.

No, this was a completely different feeling, and there was no way to stop it now.

The gap closed between the two, and the moment it did, the couple melted in each other's kiss, and their only wish was that the moment would last forever…

--

--

--

"I'll definitely be back." A playful grin appeared on his face as he released her from his arms that had been wrapped tightly around her. He took out yet another piece of notepaper and handed it to her, "Oops, time to go," he said with a quick glance at his watch.

Turning around swiftly, he carefully opened the door they both entered from, and looked out for danger that was sniffing for him outside. Sakuno only stared at him in confusion, having not yet read the note.

"Oi," he said quietly after turning back andseeing her confused face, his voice had an almost evident tinge of guilt inside it, "I'll come back as soon as I can…" Sakuno couldn't hold back the surprise in her expression when she realised that Ryoma actually looked back, "… and when I do, I'll say what's on that note, out loud, to for the entire world to hear," he said with utmost determination in his voice; that particular tone he would use reminded Sakuno deeply of his voice during a tennis match. When he said, and promised that he would defeat a certain player.

This voice reflected him as a person with the most sincerity he could possibly demonstrate. With this tone, accompanied with his expression, Sakuno felt safe.

She knew she trusted him.

Nodding quietly, she decided to send Ryoma off with a smile, "I can't wait."

_I will wait. _

_--_

_--_

_--  
_

_-- _

The day after Ryoma left, Sakuno woke up with the feeling that she had been reborn. It wasn't to do with the fact that Ryoma was gone, it wasn't that his presence bugged her. No, it wasn't like that at all. It was as though a large burden had been lifted off her, and the reason for that, Sakuno contemplated, was probably to do with the fact that she was reassured.

She felt safe, and her patience grew everyday as she waited for him, knowing that he would return one day-- when his dream was _really_ achieved.

Walking with a new air around her, she entered the bathroom for a shower. While she was getting everything ready, something caught her eye.

It was in the waste basket; Sakuno reached down to retrieve it.

In her hands, was a white and purple picture frame; glittered stars adorned it in all the right places, enhancing the sweet beauty it possessed. Sakuno smiled at her own silliness for even thinking of throwing this frame away in the first place.

Inside the frame, was a picture of Ryoma and her during the celebration of Seigaku's victory in the Tokyo District Tournament; it was their first picture.

She was so glad that she picked it up again.

--

--

Smiling, the cat-eyed tennis player leaped gracefully into the air to finish off his opponent. His smash had a spilling amount of speed, and the opponent could hardly keep up with his normal hits, forget about this smash. The umpire announced the final score and Ryoma's victory.

The audience's excited cheers flooded the entire stadium. Going with the flow (and also experience), the prince raised his left hand, holding the racket, and made a victorious wave (all the manager's orders). While doing so, the sky's gentle blueness met his gaze, there was only one person that came to his mind.

While he auto-piloted himself to shake hands with his opponent (these gestures having become habits), he pondered if she was watching him on live broadcast, many, many miles away…

--

End of Chapter.

--

Thanks so much for reading! Ryoma's not the only guilty one, I'm definitely guilty for not updating for so long... Well, I actually had the plot with me after August last year but school was really hectic (and I was really lazy), so yeah -dodges tomatoes-.

Anyways, I really want to thank you all for reading up to here! n.n I hope to be able to write an epilogue soon... but I don't even have a proper computer right now (I'm exploiting my sister's while she's away)... so maybe... hmm, I don't know, I'll try. XD;;

Thanks again!


	9. Epilogue

Yesss, finally! It's the epilogue! I'm so glad that I can finally post this up. Enjoy the finale of Remaining!!

Disclaimer: I do not own.

--_  
_

_I'll come back as soon as I can… and when I do, I'll say what's on that note, out loud, to for the entire world to hear._

_And then suddenly, she tripped over. _

"Kyaaa…" the auburn haired girl slowly opened her eyes to the daylight as she rubbed her forehead, pained from the impact of rolling off her bed. She mentally scolded herself for falling off, and then finally stood up to greet the morning.

It was that dream again.

She'd had that dream quite a number of times now, it made sure that she could never forget the valuable words once said to her. Every time she woke up after dreaming of the tennis-star-who's-somewhere-far-away-playing-tennis, she would always feel refreshed and happy. It was almost like he was inspiring her not only daily when she read about him or thought about him, but also when she's sleeping. He's forever her icon of inspiration (and maybe something else), and every time she saw a tennis court or someone playing tennis, she couldn't help but think about him-- how many miracles he's brought upon everyone around him.

He was truly amazing, and he still is.

It was already a year since Ryoma had suddenly arrived in Tokyo and located himself in the fast food store Sakuno worked in. Sakuno was now the manager of the store after her boss had seen through her capabilities. She was proud of herself and also at the same time, very happy that she had such great friends around her.

Most of all, she was proud of knowing the Echizen Ryoma. Sometimes, she would sit down wondering when she would next see him in person again, or whether or not she would ever actually see him ever again. Most of the time, she brushed out some of the thoughts about him from her mind because it was too difficult to think about him as something other than inspiration, without rushing to conclude that maybe he just wouldn't come back.

_Maybe he just wouldn't come back._

Maybe she should just sit and stare at the piece of note paper he gave her before he departed forever and be sad…

… But sometimes, maybe life wasn't as cruel as some make it out to be.

--

Two weeks passed by and Sakuno never had that same dream again. She hadn't dreamt of Ryoma for two whole weeks and she was starting to worry about her brain. Was there something wrong with it that was stopping these dreams from coming? She contemplated the matter to herself as she quietly sat on an empty seat on the train. She was heading to Seigaku to yet another strange gathering with the old Seigaku regulars and her best friends from her middle school and high school.

She got out of the train, no trippings, no mistakes, nothing embarrassing. What a safe trip. Tomoka had phoned her in the morning to arrange a meeting time at one of the pillars in the train station. Sakuno stood there waiting.

After a while, she realised that her best friend was actually running late. Frowning and sighing as she checked her watch again, she wondered what it was that could possibly affect her friend's punctuality. Tomoka's younger brothers long grew out of the age where they needed baby-sitting. The former head of the Echizen Ryoma fan club had been talking about this reunion ever since she found out there was one.

So how could she possibly be late?

"Mou…" Sakuno muttered quietly.

It was an extremely rare occasion that her best friend would turn up late for something she had been raving about with so much energy for weeks. And whenever this did happen, in its one in a few thousand chances, something was incredibly wrong. Something had definitely changed; Sakuno put herself on alert right after she figured that much.

Was it April fool's day? She thought as she checked her watch again. Frowning and realising that said date had just passed (Sakuno did _not _get away without being fooled), she lowered her head a little and sighed in resignation of the situation.

_I'll just wait, like I always do. _

A shadow slowly approached Sakuno's slumped figure; with a smile of anticipation curling up onto his lips, he took a few large strides and was within two metres behind Sakuno before he cleared his throat.

--

It was a weird hunch sort of thing. To be honest, until this day, Sakuno still had no idea why she had decided to lift her head from her misery at that exact moment.

--

Her eyes widened, her breath was caught in her lungs, and she started taken to inhale these short breaths as though she couldn't control herself at all (which was sadly what it was).

"Ne, do you know how to get to Seishun Gakuen?"

Oh, this voice, this familiar…

--

The moment that she had looked up matched the moment that he approached her exactly. The timing of when their gazes met was perfect. She could still remember her surprise and sudden gush of happiness back then.

--

"Ryoma-ku…" Her voice faded out. The 'O' shape of her mouth suddenly broke into a large smile.

"Ryoma-kun!"

--

Back then, she just flew into his arms without a single thought, murmuring his name over and over again in a muffled voice (speaking into his clothes). She had decided to let everything go, allow her emotions to take control, and then regret later.

It was a good decision. There was nothing to lose.

--

With his arms still around Sakuno, "Oi," he finally said, "If we don't stop now, we're going to be late for the reunion."

Sakuno looked up at Ryoma, surprised, "You're going?" and then somehow, something in her brain clicked, "Then that means Tomo-chan—"

"Yup, it was a set up."

"Am I the last to know that you're back?"

"Nah, no one was supposed to know, except your friend there sort of found out."

Sakuno smiled. She stepped away from Ryoma and then began to walk off. Ryoma followed.

--

Such a fluent flow in the conversation, it was as though they had been speaking to each other every single day in the past year. It felt as though they understood each other more than ever.

--

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask," Sakuno turned to look at Ryoma who gave her a quick glance to show that he was listening, "Was that supposed to resemble our first meeting?"

Ryoma pursed his lips in the way of a small child who'd gotten caught doing something bad.

"You weren't supposed to point that out until the end," he said in a low voice.

"That means you'll have to buy me a drink and beat up a bad guy too, right?"

Ryoma turned to look at Sakuno properly, "Err," he paused, "Did I do that back then?" Ryoma said with a confused frown.

"You can't even remember, and you're doing this," Sakuno sighed. It was just like him. His efforts, however, made her feel so happy that she could float on the clouds if she wanted to.

--

Years from then, Sakuno'd always recall the things that had happened between her and Ryoma. Sometimes, she would think that if she wrote her life into a script and sold it to movie companies, she'd make a fortune.

But then again, keeping your love life to yourself was probably a good choice too. That didn't stop her from dreaming about it though. She had decided that the most important scene in the entire movie would be when Ryoma finally said what he wrote in his little notepaper before he left Japan again.

There was something about their relationship and notepapers. These notes seemed to have played a large role in pulling them together.

Sakuno opened a drawer and took out the piece of notepaper, the one that would be featured in her dream movie. Smiling as she read it, the scenes from the actual day flooded back into her mind. She felt herself blush even just thinking about it.

It was nothing romantic, actually. Sure, what he said was so soppy that even the soppiest dramas would probably fail to show without the actors gagging half way through, but all that was missing to complete the drama was a romantic setting—something like… on a beach; during the end-of-year countdown; Christmas Eve; high-class restaurant… But no, of all things…

--

Sakuno stirred the soup while making sure that the egg wasn't over-cooked yet. She wanted fried egg with a pop-able yolk; she didn't want it to cook too well.

Sakuno spared two seconds just to sigh at her appearance. The egg told her that something strange was going to happen today. The first one cracked all over her. The second one had its shell fall into the bowl. The third one was the one that really ended up in the frying pan right now.

She turned off the fire for the soup, smiling and nodding in approval of the state of it. At least something went smoothly.

"Ryuzaki?"

Ryoma had dropped by all of a sudden in the morning. Sakuno asked politely if he would stay for lunch and he agreed. She was a little surprised and curious about the reason, but she didn't ask.

"Sorry, Ryoma-kun, I'm trying to make a perfect egg," she excused herself.

"Sakuno."

And she froze for a few seconds.

"Yes, Ryoma-kun?" She turned back to her egg.

Thinking that he had gotten her attention, "I," he cleared his throat and took a deep breath; Sakuno froze again.

Slowly, she turned around in realisation.

Everything was a blur. It seemed that Sakuno missed the most important part of his speech, all she could manage was to utter out a small, almost inaudible, "… Ryoma… kun."

--

Behind Sakuno was an egg that was still in the middle of its frying process and some perfectly boiled soup. Sakuno was covered in food and was slightly sticky here and there.

--

When she snapped out of her reverie, she caught the second part of his well-memorised speech.

"…more than anything in this world," he fished out something small from his pocket and went down on one knee, "Will you marry me?" And then he revealed the ring he had prepared.

"Ryoma-kun!"

Sakuno didn't know whether she should smile or not but her head had already began on a nodding motion which implied a 'yes'. Before she knew it, the ring was already slid on her finger and there was no turning back. Even though she didn't hear what Ryoma said completely, she could already guess because he had basically read off the script he wrote a year or so ago. Although she hadn't heard it properly herself, the words echoed in her mind anyway, endlessly, gently.

Meanwhile, the egg on the frying pan continued to simmer, the yolk completely cooked.

--

And there she had gone thinking that he had improved with all the fancy notepaper stuff. In fact, he was the same dense idiot she knew years and years back, what high hopes she had to think that he would be romantic just for once.

--

_Sakuno, I love you more than anything in this world, will you marry me? _

--

But then again, that was one of the things she loved so much about him.

--

--End--

--

Sorry, no omake. XD I had an idea for one a moment back except I suddenly forgot it so now there's no omake.

Just wanna say to all of you who have read from the beginning to the end, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I love you all and can't ever thank you enough for your support because without you I would never have finished this fic that I started from scratch with a random hunch one fateful day.

Actually, that's true because I just randomly started the first chapter without putting any thought into it, but then it seemed like it could be continued so I started thinking about what should happen... now this is what it has become of.

Again, thank you very much, I hope you all have a nice day and continue loving Ryoma and Sakuno!


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